A Messed up Family
by somebody's sister
Summary: They thought it was a normal case. That is until they meet a young girl who claims to be related to Gibbs. Will they believe her? And if they do, will they die like everyone else who knew her?**My first fic**Rating may change!A/U-Gibbs dad is dead. Takes place four years after Jenny's death.
1. Chapter 1:It Begins

**A/N-**So people...this is my first fic ever and I hope you like it. I've had this idea for about two almost three years now but I never did anything about it. If I write more, they will most likely be about Tony because he is my favorite character, but this wouldn't have worked with him so I choose Gibbs. I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer-**I don't own NCIS or any of its characters. The only ones I do own are those of my creation that you don't recognize on the show

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**Chapter 1:It Begins**

**_08:00..._**

She stood there in the rain, watching, waiting for her chance. she had been waiting a long time for this and a few more days or even weeks wouldn't matter now. She watched as they got out of the car , one agent arguing with the other two. _Where is he?_she wondered. Then she saw him, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Seeing him brought back memories of _that man_, memories she would rather forget. She should just confront him right now, but no she had somewhere to be right now..._maybe tomorrow_,she thought,_ maybe tomorrow..._

_**~~~ncis~~~**_

**_3 hours later..._**

Gibbs walked out of the elevator to see all of his agents working diligently behind their desks. Finally, one time Tony wasn't bothering anyone.

"What do we got?" he asked, waiting for an answer. Ziva was the fist one to speak.

" Our dead victim is Petty Officer Ryan Aries. His commander's reports in his military files all say that he is a hard worker and I spoke to his CO who said that Ryan was one of his hardest workers and he got along with everyone."

Tony took the remote from her and put up three photos. "These two are his parents. They died in a fire seven years ago along with three unidentified bodies though neighbors told the police that one was probably a young girl by the name of Allie that they had been taking care of. It was never proven and the case went cold. None of the other bodies were ever identified and no one was ever reported missing.

This is Ryan's twin brother, Robert Aries, who live in D. his wife and only child. I couldn't get ahold of him, but I did get in contact with his landlord who said they went on vacation but are due to come back tomorrow. She said she would him tell that I called."

"I looked into his bank and phone records and saw nothing out of the ordinary except one phone call he received two days ago. Here listen to this:_'Ryan, this is-this is a friend from seven years ago. Your parents introduced us.' 'I thought you were dead. That's what everyone was saying' 'I escaped. Listen I am so sorry for your parents, but after they died I didn't think that I could face you.' 'Where did you go? Why did you have to run? It wasn't your fault. We all thought you were dead!' 'I didn't want to go, but I had to! I can't tell you where I went not here, not now. Can we meet somewhere private where no one can listen?' 'Yes, come to Mel's Coffee and Cakes at 11:30. Sit at table nine. Don't be late, I won't wait for long.' _

And then he hangs up. I tried to trace the call but it lead to a payphone a few blocks away from Aries' house," McGee said, finishing up.

"That meet, its in twenty minutes,boss. We could go and see who this mysterious caller is," Tony said, checking his watch.

"Okay, McGee, you and Ziva get that file on his parents' death. I want those bodies identified, it might help us. Ask Abby for help if you need to. Tony, your with me, lets go find out who this girl is."

**~~~ncis~~~**

**_At Mel's Coffee and Cakes..._**

Jackie walked into the little shop and was assaulted with the refreshing smells of coffee. She looked around and made her way to table nine. When she saw that it was positioned in the corner away from others and facing all of the doors, she smiled. Ryan knew her so well, she couldn't have picked a better spot. She walked over and sat down. A waitress came over and she ordered a small cup of black coffee and then sat there waiting. She had five minutes before he got here, so she sat back and watched everyone around her, sipping her coffee with little interest. _Not strong enough,_ she thought. At 11:30 she sat up a little straighter and watched the doors. A minute later two men walked in and immediately her heart sunk. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut. She knew those two agents and her fears were confirmed when they started making their way over to her table.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Gibbs with NCIS and this is my colleague Special Agent DiNozzo. We-"

"I know who you are,"Jackie said, interrupting him,"you have a record for the impoliteness you show to reporters who spill your coffee and you have a record for getting accused and framed for murder. Now, what do you want? I'm meeting somebody in a few minutes."

Gibbs, a little taken back by her abruptness and knowledge of them, said,"Were you planing on meeting Petty Officer Ryan Aries?"

"Why? What does it have to do with you?"she asked, warily.

DiNozzo said from behind Gibbs,"Because Petty Officer Ryan Aries is dead. He was killed this morning and you were the last one to have spoken to him."

"Wait, Ryan's dead? Wh-what happened? Why? What's going on?" she said, shocked.

"Maybe you should come with us and we can carry on this conversation in a more convenient place," Gibbs said, taking Jackie's hand and pulling her to her feet."You never told us what your name is even though we told you ours."

"Oh, its...uh...Alison, Alison Parkes," she said after a little hesitation.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Interrogation Room A..._**

"Alison" sat in the interrogation room staring at the agent she was panning on visiting tomorrow. Funny how fate works.

"So Alison, what's your relationship with Ryan Aries?" Gibbs asked the young girl sitting in front of him.

"You listened to the phone call. I'm a friend, his parents introduced us when I was about five almost six. I looked at him and Robert as older brothers. After his parents died, I left and stayed with a friend because I couldn't face them yet. Now I thought I would try to re-connect with them. I guess that's out of the question with Ryan." "Alison" said, hurriedly wiping her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"Why weren't you there when the fire happened?" Gibbs inquired.

"The fire wasn't an accident, Agent Gibbs. Someone purposefully set it, but Sam and Brianna got me out of there. Unfortunately, they didn't escape in time. There were these men coming after me. Something to do with a friend my dad had. Sam and Brianna didn't know about it at first, but they found out after my best friend and her family was killed one night. After that I told them everything that I knew."

"I'll be back in a few minutes, Alison. Can I get you anything?" Gibbs asked as he got up and headed for the door.

"Some water would be nice." "Alison" said.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Other side of the glass..._**

Gibbs walked in and went to the glass."She's hiding something. I can just feel it."

McGee looked at Gibbs and said,"I can't find a record of an Alison Parkes anywhere, Boss. I erched for birth certificates, adoption papers, foster care system, everything! It's like she doesn't exist."

"Okay, good work. Any luck on those unidentified bodies?"

"No, not yet. I'm still looking."

"She said something about her best friend and her family being killed. Find that case and see who did it."

"You think there's a connection?"

"Maybe, something about all of this doesn't feel right. It's like we're missing something important."

"Okay, Boss." McGee said, leaving.

**_~~~nics~~~_**

**_Interrogation Room A..._**

Gibbs walked back in with a glass of water and set it down on the table in front of her.

"There's something you're not telling us. We can't find any trace of an Alison Parkes anywhere! Who are you?" Gibbs said slamming his hand down on the table, causing some water to splash over the edge.

Alison", taken back a little out his outburst, realized it was futile to lie to them anymore. She was going to tell him eventually, might as well be now.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not Alison Parkes. I-I didn't want to tell you who really was because I didn't think you would believe me."

"Try me."

"I was planning on telling you tomorrow, but I guess it didn't work out that way."

"What do you mean?"

"My real name is...Jaclyn Angelica Ara Coeli Gibbs."

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**A/N-**review please! I want to know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2:Making Friends, New and Old

**A/N-**So...I want to thank all of my lovely reviewers and followers! I'm so happy that I got such a good turn out for my first chapter. This next one is a bit longer and took forever to write or I would have had it done yesterday. Sorry! So congrats to somebody's brother for being my first reviewer! You are the best brother somebody could have!:) And thank you to bobjeff4tony, unidentified, somebody, DS2010, torontogirl12, katrin lily, and razmed for your reviews!

**Disclaimer-**As I said in the last chapter, I only own the people of my own creation. No one else.

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**Chapter 2:Making Friends,New and Old **

**_Interrogation Room A..._**

"My name is...Jaclyn Angelica Ara Coeli Gibbs," she said with a relieved sigh."I'm so glad I got that off my chest! I was planning on telling you tomorrow, but..."

Gibbs was still staring at her with a shocked expression on his face."What do you mean? I don't have any family left after my dad died. How are you related to me?"

"Well...you see, I'm your younger brother's daughter, so your niece. Nice to finally meet you Uncle. Wow, that sounds weird to say!"

"I don't have a brother, so you're lying to me, again."

"No, you do have a brother, you were just never told about him. He was born after you left for the Marines. Though your father, my grandfather, wasn't very pleased with him. He actually disowned him when he was sixteen."

"If you are my niece, which I'm still not sure of, then you should probably come and meet the rest of my family."

"I thought you said you didn't have any family left?"

"Well, they're not related to me, but I consider them family. Though I would never tell them that. You can meet them as long as you promise me that you didn't kill Petty Officer Ryan."

"Why would I kill him. I told you, I considered him a brother."

"Okay, come with me then. I will need a DNA test done, but for now I'll play along."

"You wouldn't say that if you didn't believe it," Jackie said, walking out the door

**_~~~ncis~~~ _**

**_In the bullpen..._**

"I'm telling you guys, there's something up with that Alison girl," Tony said to the other agents.

"Tony, she's fifteen. Do you really think she could kill someone and then use his blood to write a message on the wall. Now get back to work," McGee said.

"I am working, McGoo, and you never know. Some teenagers have sick minds."

'Not this one, Tony," Gibbs said as he walked in and stood in the middle of all of the desks.

"Boss! Did you get a confession out of her?"

"Yes, Agent DiNozzo, he did get a confession out of me. Just not the kind you would think."

"What's she doing down here and how many kinds of confessions are there?"

"DiNozzo, be quiet and listen up! Everyone I would like you to meet Jaclyn Angelica Ara Coeli Gibbs," Gibbs said in a quiet, hesitant voice.

"I'm his niece if you guys are wondering,"spoke up Jaclyn, amused at their shocked expressions. "I know, I know, 'Wait! I thought Gibbs didn't have an family left after his dad died' but I'm here aren't I, and he is going to do a DNA test just to be sure."

Ziva was the first to recover from the shock and went over to Jackie."Pleased to meet you. I'm Ziva David. I can not wait to get to know you."

"I'm Agent Timothy McGee, though most people just call me McGee,"he said, shaking her hand.

"And you already know me, but I'm glad you're not a psychopathic killer!"

Gibbs watched the greetings of his agents and after a few seconds said."Okay people! We still have a killer on the lose. McGee did you find that file I asked for?"

"No, Boss, not yet."

"Jaclyn, where was Sam and Brianna's house. I need the case of your friend and her family."

"Call me Jackie please, and it was in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. I can tell you the case number if that would help."

McGee typed in murder cases in Sunbury and was about to ask for the case number when it popped up. He opened the file and was immediately sickened.

"Did you find it McGee?"Gibbs asked.

"Yes, Boss. I did."

"Put it on the big screen."

McGee did as he was told and everyone gathered around the screen. When the crime scene photos were put up, Jaclyn slowly closed her eyes as the memories came flooding back.

_***flashback***_

_She was sitting on the living room floor with Sam. Today he was teaching her how to take apart and reassemble a gun. When someone knocked on the door, she jumped up to get it._

_"Hello, may I speak with Sam Aries please?" a Sunbury police officer asked._

_"Sure, let me get him. One moment please,"she said. Then she took off running for the living room."Sam! Sam!"_

_"What is it, Jacks?"_

_"There's an officer at the door. He wants to talk to you."_

_"Okay, let me go see what he wants. You go up to your room now."_

_"Yes, sir,"she said quickly and then ran for her room. As soon as she got out of sight of them though she ran for the back door and snuck around to the front. She saw Sam walking with the officer and quietly followed them. She started to remember some of the things around her and soon realized the way to her friend Ellie's house. Immediately she started getting a bad feeling and when she saw a bunch of flashing lights in front of her best friends house her fears were confirmed._

_In a dreamlike trance she slipped unnoticed by the police officers and made her way into the house. She walked into the kitchen and immediately closed her eyes at the sight, but it didn't matter. The images of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Carson would be forever imprinted in her mind. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Mr. Peter Carson was slumped over the kitchen table with one of the kitchen knives still in his hand. His hand that held the knife was broke along with the wrist and his throat had been cut. Mrs. Anna Carson's throat had also been cut and she was sprawled out on the floor. _

_Ever so slowly she walked past the bodies and into the hallway. Halfway down the hallway the hidden trap door was ajar and inside lay the body of the Carson's two year old son, Kyle. Like his parents, his throat had been cut, too._ _It looked as if the parents had tried to hide Kyle but the door had been found and forced open. Still Jackie walked on though later she would regret that decision, for what she saw next was worse than all else. She walked into the family room at the back of the house and saw her best friend's body laying on the table, throat sliced like the rest. On the wall behind her, written in her blood, was a message that read:"You see what happens when you get close to people, Jackie? They die! All of this will stop if you come to me. No one else will have to die." Reading this, Jackie stumbled back and hit the bookshelf, causing everyone in the room to look at her. When Sam saw that she was there, he made his way towards her. Before he got to her, she ran. She didn't know how long she had been running, or where she was for she was blinded by tears. Tears for her best friend and her family, tears of guilt because she was the reason they were killed, and tears of hatred for that man who was destroying her life._

_***End Flashback***_

Jackie came back to the present to see Gibbs starring at her with a mixed expression of sorrow and worry."Jackie, I-"

"I'm fine. I-I just don't want to talk about it." Gibbs looked at her for a few minutes longer taking in her tear stained face and horror filled eyes, he then asked McGee if he could put up the pictures of Aries' death. McGee complied and put the pictures up on the screen next to the Carson case. Jackie slowly walked up to the screen as she stared at the pictures. Tears slowly started to make there way down her face, creating fresh tracks. If any of the other agents noticed she was crying they ignored it. Ryan was killed in the same way as the Carson's, his throat being cut. There was even a message on the wall in Ryan's blood. It read:"You should have come to me."

"It's all my fault," Jackie murmured.

"I think we're dealing with a serial killer. I want this guy found yesterday! Tony, I want you to find Robert and his family and bring them here right now, they might be targets to. Ziva, go with him. McGee, I want those bodies identified now. I don't care what you have to do," Gibbs said. Then he turned to Jackie and softened his voice."Jackie, I need you to tell me anything you know."

"No, Gibbs, no, please don't make me. I can't! I've tried to forget it all, please. I'm begging you, I don't think I can do it! If I do, he might kill you, too."

For a second Gibbs saw before him a frightened young girl. He knew what he was asking was of her was hard, so he relented."Okay, I won't make you do it now, but without you telling us this might never get solved."

"The last time I told someone, they ended up dead."

"Fine, come with me. We need to go to Abby's lab.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Abby's lab..._**

Gibbs and Jackie walked out of the elevator to hear the loud noise of Abby's music. Gibbs walked in and turned it off. Immediately Abby looked up from whatever she was doing and saw Gibbs.

"Gibbs! How are you? Why are you down here so early, I've barely had time to start, its not fair!"As Abby paused for breath she noticed Jackie for the first time."Who's that? Why is she down here? Were you going to tell me that she was here? Are you going to introduce us?"

"Abbs, calm down. I was about to tell you. I didn't come down here to see what you've gotten so far, I need you to do something for me."

"What boss man?'

"This is Jackie. I need you to run a DNA test on us. She claims to be my niece."

"Ooh! Gibbs! You never told me you had a niece!"

"I didn't know until a few minutes ago. Will you run the tests or not?"

"Of coarse, any thing for you! Now, Jackie is it, come over here for a minute."

Five minutes later Jackie and Gibbs were back on their way to the elevator when Gibbs phone rang.

"Gibbs...ya, Duck, I'll be right there."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Autopsy... _**

Gibbs walked into the lab and went straight over to the body."What do you got for me, Duck?"

"Mr. Palmer, would you please run these to Abby. Ah, Jethro, how are you?"

"Would be better if I could catch this guy. Tell me something I can use."

"Well, there's not much I'm afraid. Ryan was a very healthy young man, it's a shame he died for he had a while yet to live. I found an unique substance around his mouth, my guess is that it was a glove that our killer was wearing. I've sent it to Abby for tests. The wound looks as if it was made from any old hunting knife. '

"Is that Ryan?" said a quiet voice from behind Gibbs.

Gibbs slowly turned around to see Jackie behind him, he had forgotten that she had come with him. Before he could say anything, though, Ducky spoke up behind him.

"Do I know you from somewhere? Your face looks very familiar. Oh, I know! You're that little girl that used to come around with Director Shepard, aren't you? What was your name? Oh, yes, Jaclyn!"

"Yes, Doctor Mallard, that was me. Its good to see you again. May I see Ryan's body please?"

"What do you mean you used to come around with Jenny?"

"When I was about nine or ten, I met Ms. Shepard. She took care of me for a while and then helped me get to Italy where I stayed for a few years with some friends. That was before I knew that you were my uncle. Now will you let me see Ryan?"

"Are you sure you're ready for it?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then." So Jackie walked up to the body and, while Gibbs and Ducky quietly conversed behind her, stared at her friend, no her brother. Looking at him she felt tears starting to well behind her eyes and she quickly blinked them away."I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have died. It's all my fault!" she whispered.

"Come on, Jackie, lets go."

"Please forgive me," she said and then let Gibbs lead her away.

When they were in the elevator, Gibbs phone rang."Gibbs...what do you mean they're gone!...I want them found now, we'll be right there!" he hung up and then turned to Jaclyn."Jackie, Robert and his family have been taken hostage. A note was found saying you had twelve hours to find them or else they die."

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**A/N-**Tell me what you think! Review! I'll try to get the next one up soon!


	3. Chapter 3: Following Clues

**A/N-**Thank you all for being so patient, but I had some trouble writing this. So far only a few things are similar to my original idea so I 'm writing alot of this off of the top of my head. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I made it longer than I originally planned, but I just couldn't find a good place to stop! Thank you to everyone who reviewed or is now following my story, it means alot to me! Enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer-**I don't own the NCIS. The only things I do own are the ideas and people you don't recognize from the show.

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**Chapter 3: Following clues**

**_In the bullpen...10 hours until deadline..._**

Jaclyn and McGee sat at McGee's desk going over the note, again.

"We're not going to find anything new! I've been sitting here for two hours! I should be out there trying to find him, but no! My _uncle_ said it was too dangerous. I can handle myself!'

"He knows that, but he thinks that it's his duty to protect you."

"But they're my friends, its my fault they might die."

McGee was about to answer when his phone started ringing."Hello, Agent McGee...who is this?...yes, one second,"McGee said. Then he turned to Jaclyn."Its the kidnappers. Call Gibbs, They're sending an e-mail with a clue as to where the Aries' are. Do you know how to start a trace? Good, use Tony's computer, I'm going to try to keep them talking." He went back to the phone and out of the corner of his eye saw her doing as he instructed. "Hello, are you sill there?...yes, I got the e-mail right here...why are you doing this? We can help, just tell us wh-" Before he could finish the sentance, they hung up. He put the phone down and turned to Jaclyn. At the same time Gibbs came in through the elevator with Tony and Ziva."Did you get a trace?"

"No, they hung up to quickly. I couldn't get one."

"McGee, show me what the e-mail said!"

"Here, Boss," he said, putting it on the big screen for everyone to see._"_

Dearest Jaclyn and Agents,  
This isn't the way  
I usually play  
But I wanted to have some fun  
Before out of time you run  
Now the rules are different  
You'll be finding clues I have sent  
I'm giving you two hours  
To buy some nice flowers  
For a pretty girl's grave  
If you fail, Gwen you can't save.  
The clock is ticking, tick-tock  
You better hope it doesn't stop  
Or you will have to say goodbye for me  
To this little family.

Gibbs was the first to speak after everyone hadread the e-mail. "What is he doing?"

"He's messing with us,"Jaclyn said,"and now he's going to kill a ten year old girl and her family unless we can solve his stupid puzzle!"

"Well, then," Gibbs said, "we better get started. Since it says to buy flowers I would assume that it has something to do with a flower shop. Ziva, I want you and Tony to search for all flower shops in the D.C. area."

"Check especially for ones by a cemetery that sell expensive flowers." Jackie put in.

"Maybe it has a clock tower on or by it," Tony said

Okay, boss and yes sir was heard from Ziva and Tony as they got to work.

"Send the list to me once your done. McGee, I want you to go downstairs and help Abby. We need something, anything to help us find this psychopath. I need to go see Ducky. Jackie, you help Ziva and DiNozzo get a list together. Lets get this family back."

**~~~ncis~~~**

**_Autopsy..._**

"Hey, Duck, how's it going?"

"Well, I've been trying to get a profile on this man. From what I can tell the one killing the people isn't the one calling the shots."

"So we're dealing with two people."

"Maybe more. The one in charge likes to order people around, it probably came from being told what to do all of his life. Now he is reveling in telling others what to do and he not even getting his hands dirty. The one killing enjoys it. As a young child he probably killed small animals. He doesn't want them to suffer though so he kills them quickly and mercifully only attacking if they try to attack him. The efficiency in which he kills leads me to believe that he was probably military at some point in his life. If the boss was military that's probably where they met."

Gibbs sighed and ran his fingers through his hair."What do you make of Jaclyn."

"From what I've seen today or from what I remember of her time here with Jenny."

"Both."

"She has a lot of determination and she's very stubborn. Doesn't like to get close to people or tell them what she's really feeling, reminds me of you. She feels like she's burdening people with her troubles so she carries all of the weight by herself even if there are people who want to help her. She hides behind a mask and she rarely lets her guard down. But at the same time she is very caring and hates to see people around her get hurt. If they do, she blames herself. She's only a fifteen year old girl and yet she acts so much older. Her childhood was ripped away from her and she feels betrayed by someone close to her, probably the same person who is doing this. If her father wasn't already dead, I would guess it was him."

"Thanks, Duck. Do you really think she's my niece?"

"Yes, I do. When I first met her she reminded me of someone though I couldn't think of who. Now I know who it was. She reminded me of you, Jethro."

After a few moments of silence Gibbs phone rang."Gibbs...Get McGee and get into the cars, I'll be right there. I got to go Ducky, thanks for everything."

**~~~ncis~~~**

**_In the car...half an hour until deadline..._**

"Anything, Ziva," Gibbs said into the com.

"No, nothing in this one. That leaves only four more."

"Okay, you two take Patty's Irish Flowers. We'll take Ellen's Flowers."

"Yes, Boss."

This is stupid!" Jackie said,"We don't even know what we're looking for at these places. What if we missed it."

"Then we go back and look through them again."

"We won't have time, if we don't find something in the next twenty-five minutes, Gwen will die."

"She's right Boss," Tony said. For the past hour the agents had been searching all of the flower shops in D.C. Ziva and McGee were in one car and Tony, Gibbs, and Jaclyn were in the other one and so far they hadn't found anything.

"Can I see the list again?" Jaclyn asked.

Tony handed it back to her and she started looking through the names of the rest of the shops. She had gone over it twice already when she stopped at one of the names second to the bottom."O my Gosh, How could we have missed it! I know where to go! Its so obvious I didn't think of it. McGee, was there a girl named Guinevere in King Arthur's Court?"

"Yes, she was married to King Arthur."

"Jackie, whats this got to do with flower shops?" Gibbs asked.

"It has everything to do with flower shops. We are looking for Gwen, who's full name is Gwenivere. They're spelled differently, but sound the same. One of the flower shops on here is called King Arthur's Flower Bouquets!"

"Ziva did you get that?"

"On our way now Gibbs."

"We'll meet you there."

**~~~ncis~~~**

**_At King Arthur's Flower Bouquets...fifteen minutes until deadline..._**

As soon as Gibbs pulled up, Jackie jumped out and ran for the entrance. Gibbs and Tony ran after her as did Ziva and McGee. Together they went in and Jackie and Gibbs walked up to the front desk.

'I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," he said, showing his badge,"I need your permission to look around your store for a note or package or something."

"There's no need to search, it's right here. I was told to give this box to a young girl with dark brown hair and ice blue eyes. There's not many people like that. Plus he said she would be with a silver-haired man with the same eyes."

"Where's this package?"

"Right here."

"Ziva, get a description of the man who left the package. Lets get this back to NCIS."

"No, we need to open this now. There's no time to go back."

"Okay, but we do it outside and everyone stands back."

"I'm the one who is going to open it. That lady was instructed to give it to me. If we don't play by his rules it will end babdly."

"I'm not going to let you risk your life. Right now you are my responsibility!"

"This man killed my mom and he killed my dad. He killed Sam, Brianna, and Ryan. He killed my best friend and her family. I can't let him kill Rob and his family and I can't let him kill you! Please let me do this."

"This man killed my brother?"

"Please let me do this," Jaclyn said again, avoiding Gibbs question.

"Fine."

So Jaclyn walked to the middle of the parking lot and set the package down then knelt beside it. She took out her pocket knife and slipped it under the tape. After opening it, she took out the little box in it. She swallowed the lump in her throat at the sight of Amanda's favorite jewelry box. Taking it out she set on the ground next to her and slowly opened it up, checking for a bomb. When she found nothing she opened it all the way and putting on gloves took out its contents.

"Guys, its safe!" she yelled back to the waiting agents. One by one they came forward and all gathered around the box.

"It looks like three pictures an another note," Jackie said to them.

"Read what the note says," Gibbs ordered.

"It says"

Dearest Jaclyn and agents,  
Sorry that this first part doesn't rhyme, but  
I needed to talk to you. Congratulations! You  
found this clue with only five minutes to spare.  
Thanks to Jackie who solved the puzzle, you guys  
get to move on. Here is your next clue:  
Since you were able to  
Figure out my last clue  
It is only fair  
That you find Gwenivere  
She is waiting for you  
To solve my next clue  
I'll tell you that she is  
Where no one wants to live  
A place that has been abandoned  
But used to be lots of fun  
This isn't as easy as you think  
For if you go astray, she might sink  
Five hours I'm giving to you  
To solve my second clue.

That's all it there is."

"What are the pictures of?"Tony asked, bending over and picking one up. It was a young girl, about ten or so that was tied up and suspended over water. She had blood trickling down her forehead and looked to be unconscious. "Who's this?"

"That's Gwen! Where was this taken at? Does anyone know?"

"Let's get it to Abby. She might be able to enhance it. What about the other pictures?" Gibbs asked.

"This one is of Gwen holding a newspaper. Its dated for today, so she was alive this morning at least. And this one looks to be of a clown head, maybe. Its pretty freaky if you ask me, but then I've never liked clowns," Jackie said, looking at the rest of the pictures.

"Let's get back to NCIS and solve the clues there. Come on."

**~~~ncis~~~ **

**_Abby's Lab...Two hours until deadline..._**

It was now 7:00pm and everyone was gathered in Abby's lab like they had been for the past three hours trying to find where Gwen was**_. _**

"Are there any abandoned amusement parks anywhere? People have fun there," McGee suggested.

"Nope already looked," Abby said.

"I can't take this, I'm going on a coffee run. Anyone want something?" Jackie said. After getting the orders she headed out the door and went to get the coffee. On the way there she started thinking about the clues.

When she got to the part about the fun, abandoned place, she paused. "Wait a second!" she said to no one in particular and, coffee forgotten, she ran back to NCIS.

"Hey, that was quick. Where's the coffee?" Tony asked.

"Forget the coffee, I think I figured it out!"

"What! Where is she?"

"Abby are there any abandoned Haunted Houses around here?"

"I'll check, but why?"

"Because I remember once Sam took me to a haunted house. On the front was this giant clown head. Inside is a fun house and in the middle of that is a pit of water. It fits the clue and picture."

"There are two abandoned haunted houses. Only one has a giant clown in the front!"

"Where is it?"

"About an hour to two hour drive from here."

"Lets go people!"

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**A/N-**Please review and tell me what you think! Its not hard to do!


	4. Chapter 4: Traps

**A/N-**Here's another chapter for you guys, and I hope you like it! I've introduced the bad guys in this chapter and in two or three I will completely explain Jaclyn's past. This is my longest chapter yet and it actually took the shortest amount of time to write so I hope you all enjoy! Don't forget to review! And thank you to those that reviewed on my last chapter! You are all awesome!

**Disclaimer-**I don't own NCIS, blah, blah,blah

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**Chapter 4: Traps**

**_At the Abandoned Haunted House..._**

Gibbs arrived at the warehouse in record time and everyone climbed out of the car.

"Jaclyn, I want you to stay here until we make sure its clear."

"No, I'm coming. I know how to handle a gun, I can take care of myself. You might not realize it, but I have been on my own for a while."

"Okay. Here you can use my spare."

"Thanks," she said, taking the gun and checking it over.

"Good, Everyone, Kevlar vests on and guns ready. Good lets go. Abby is there a back way in?"

"No, boss," came Abby's voice over the com,"it been blocked off for years and there is no way in. Even the maintenance door is inaccessible."

"Okay we all go in the front door. DiNozzo, you and Ziva clear the doors to the right, McGee, you and I check the rooms to the left. Jaclyn, while we're clearing rooms you be look out. On my count. One-two-three-Go!" Gibbs said as they burst in and ran to check the rooms. Shouts of clear echoed through the deserted building. Once everyone had come back from checking the hallways, they started on their way again, Jaclyn slightly ahead of the rest. As she was walking the floor underneath her began to cave in and she fell barely managing to grasp the edges of the hole, cutting her hands and wrists in the process.

"Jaclyn!" Gibbs yelled hurrying to the hole.

"I'm okay, I caught myself, be careful or you might fall too."

Gibbs slowly inched forward and looked down when he got to the opening. At the bottom of the hole were sharp looking spears with barbed tips. The hole itself appeared almost perfectly round, as if it were made there on purpose.

"Ya, I think it was on purpose, too. But would you help me up?"

"Sure. DiNozzo help me." The two men leaned down and grasped Jackie's forearms and pulled. Once they had her up, Gibbs started looking at the cuts she had acquired.

"I'm fine, they're only scratches."

"They don't look to deep, but you need to have them cleaned when we get out of here. Who knows what got in there. Come on lets keep on moving. Everyone be on high alert, there may be more traps."

So they continued on being careful to avoid any traps. Twice McGee was almost crushed by brass trunks and twice he jumped out of the way with seconds to spare. As they were nearing the end of the maze, Jaclyn was standing underneath a chandelier that began to fall. Tony noticed this and ran for her. As soon as he got there, he football tackled her and she landed heavily on the ground with Tony landing on top of her. It wasn't a moment to soon for as soon as they landed the chandelier crashed right next to them. Slowly Tony picked himself up and noticed that Jaclyn was still laying on the ground, struggling to breathe. Gibbs must have noticed this too, for he came over and knelt next to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just got the breath knocked out of me," she said as she slowly sat up.

"Anything broken?"

"Just bruised, I think"

"Sorry about the hard landing, Jacks," Tony said.

"Its not your fault, don't worry about it," she said, getting up.

Once Gibbs was sure Jackie was fine they moved on and, besides Tony almost falling into a boiling pit and Ziva and Gibbs nearly being crushed by a piano, they encountered no more traps. They finally came to the last door and they slowly opened it. Inside they saw a pit of water about thirty feet deep and hanging above it was Gwen. Her arms and legs were tied up so she couldn't move them, she had a gag in her mouth that stopped her from speaking, and she had rocks tied around one foot. She was hanging on a rope above the water and above her a huge double-bladed ax was swinging, slowly cutting more and more of the rope. When she saw them she started shaking her head violently and tried to speak through her gag.

"Mmmnpphh! Mphphnnmmt!"

"Gwen, its okay! Its me, Jackie. Do you remember me? We're her to help you." As she was saying this she slowly started to walk forward. Before she got far though, someone started shooting at them.

"Take cover!" Gibbs yelled as he ducked behind a bin. He saw the others doing the same and soon they started returning fire."Does anyone have a visual?"

"No, boss. None from over here."

"I'm blind!"

"I saw him duck behind those shelves over there," Jaclyn quietly said. Using hand motions he ordered Tony to go around to the left and Ziva to go to the right.

"Gibbs, I need to go save Gwen, she's going to fall!" Jackie whispered.

"Okay, but be careful and stay hidden until we get this guy. Everyone ready. On my count...one -two -three...NCIS, put your hands in the air and drop the weapon!" Gibbs shouted moving in with McGee. Seeing them coming the man started to run backwards but was stopped by Ziva.

"Federal agents, going somewhere."

The man knew he was cornered with nowhere to go, but he had orders to not let the police capture him so he raised his gun and was about to start firing when Four shots rang out and the man fell to the floor, dead.

"Ziva, make sure he's dead. We need to get to Gwen and Jaclyn, come on!"

The men ran for the pit with Ziva close behind after checking to make sure that he was dead. When they got there, they saw Jaclyn trying to get to Gwen by climbing some twenty feet above the water to the rope which suspended Gwen. As soon as she got there the ax cut through the ropes and Gwen, with a muffled scream, fell into the water below.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Some unknown location..._**

**_"_**How are they doing? Have they reached my traps yet?" a voice hissed.

"Yes, sir. They are almost to the room with the girl."

"Good, good. And what of Martin, does he know what to do?

"Yes, he knows not to kill any of them and to not get captured. He is ready."

"Excellent!"

With that the second man started to leave."And Peter."

"Yes?"

"Keep me informed. And send in my lunch."

"Of course."

A few minutes later a maid walked in carrying a tray."Your lunch, sir," she said meekly.

'Ah...a new girl," he hissed, stepping into the light. The maid audibly gasped and took an involuntary step back from the gruesome sight before her.

"What? Can't stand the sight of my face? Come here girl," he said, grabbing her by the neck and pulling her close forcing her to look at him. The sight before her was a horrible one. The left side of the man's face had been destroyed by fire or a bomb, leaving a mess of melted, burnt flesh. On the right side, a scar ran from right above his temple to the corner of his mouth, crossing his eye. Another scar ran from his ear and down to his neck then up and over his mouth.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," the maid stuttered,"I wasn't meaning anything, its just that I didn't know and I was surprised."

"Get out of here, you worthless woman. There was only one person who could stand the sight of me and she died. It doesn't matter if I got this serving my country. If I was saving my commander and then got blown up. No! They forget about me! And now nobody can stand the sight of me. Get out of here! Now!" he shouted throwing the tray to the ground.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

Gibbs and the others got there just as Gwen hit the water and she immediately started to sink. Gibbs looked up and saw Jaclyn standing on the two inch pole getting ready to dive in.

"Jaclyn, no! You won't be able to save her!"  
'I have to try." And with that she dived in, flipping twice before she hit sliced through the water. Jaclyn opened her eyes and saw Gwen a few feet below her so she started swimming down. She reached her when they were at about twenty-five feet. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her Swiss army knife and started to cut Gwen free. She started with the rocks and after they were gone she took the gag out. Then she wrapped one of her arms and started swimming up, dragging the almost unconscious Gwen with her. Just as Jaclyn thought her lungs were about to burst, she broke the surface and willing hands pulled her and Gwen to safety. As soon as they touched the ground, Ziva started to perform CPR on the young girl. Gibbs ran to Jaclyn and helped her sit up.

"Are you okay? Why would you do that? You could've died!"

"I-I'm fine," she said, gasping for breath."How's-how is Gwen?"

Together they walked over to where Ziva continued to do CPR. A second later, Gwen began to cough up water. When she stopped, she shakily sat up and looked around a little disorientated.

"Hey, Gwen, are you okay?"

"Ya, I thi-th-think so," she said, shivering."Thanks, Jackie, fo-for coming after m-me."

"No thanks needed. Come on, lets get out of here," Jaclyn said as she saw the EMTs arriving. They lifted Gwen up onto the gurney and started to wheel her out, Jaclyn walking next to her holding her hand.

When they got outside Jaclyn went in the ambulance with Gwen and the others followed behind.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Hospital Waiting Room...9:30 pm_**

Jaclyn was sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. Gwen had been back there about five minutes when Gibbs and the rest of the team arrived.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She seems fine, but they want to be sure. They also need to know what happened to her while she was in captivity to make sure nothing is wrong. They shouldn't be long now. Listen, I want to thank all of you for helping, but your job is done. You can go home now."

"She's right guys. We don't have any more leads on either of the cases and you all need some rest. I have another team going over the scene at the haunted house. You guys go home and get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow."

"But, boss. We still have a Petty officer and his wife missing and another Petty officer's killer on the loose. We can't go home now."

"You won't be any good to me if you can't think because your tired. Go home for a few hours. Eat something, take a shower, sleep. Then go back to NCIS and start working on the case."

"And what about you, boss?'

"I'll stay here until Jackie's ready to go home."

"No, Gibbs, its okay. You go home to. I'm staying here all night."

"Then I'm at least waiting until I find out how Gwen is. The rest of you go."

"Okay, boss. See you later," Tony said and then left with the other two following behind. The two left sat there quietly for a few minutes before Gibbs glanced down.

"Jaclyn, your bleeding!"

Jackie looked down and saw that her hands and wrists were bleeding again. Now they she saw them they started stinging a little."Oh! I didn't realize it,"she said.

"Come on, let's go have someone take care of it. Excuse me nurse. Her hands and wrists are bleeding and they may have dirt and the like in them. Could you get someone to clean them up a bit?"

"Sure, follow me."

So Jaclyn followed the nurse to a side room and sat on the bed. The nurse started cleaning the fresh and dried blood off of her arms. Once it was gone she poured antiseptic over the wounds causing them to sting. Upon closer examination of one of them she saw a few splinters of wood in it so she grabbed twesers and pulled them out. After that she bandaged the cuts and helped Jaclyn off of the table.

"There. Change the bandages at least three time a day for the next week and you should heal nicely."

"Thank you."

As they walked back into the waiting room, Jaclyn saw Gibbs talking to Gwen's doctor.

"Excuse me, Doctor, but how is Gwen?"

"As I was telling Gibbs here, Gwen is doing just fine. She's a bit dehydrated, but besides that everything seems fine. I want to keep her here until morning just to be sure."

"Can I see her?"

"She's sleeping right now, but sure. If you'll follow me?"

They followed the doctor to the children's section and stopped in front of a door. Inside they could see Gwen sleeping.

"I'll leave you here."

"Thank you," Jackie said as she walked in.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_In the hospital room...03:30 am..._**

_Jaclyn dragged Gwen over the edge of the pit. She layed her on the ground and started CPR. After five minutes, Jaclyn accepted defeat. _

_"I'm so sorry, Gwen! I'm so so sorry!" She began crying and closed Gwen's lifeless eyes. Then she stood up and went to find the others._

_"Gibbs, here are you?" She turned the corner and saw the bodies of Gibbs, Tony, McGee, and Ziva. They were all shot with blood pooling around their heads. All of a sudden they all stood up and started towards her. She turned around and ran into Gwen._

_"It's all your fault. It's all your fault," they began chanting._

_"No, no, no. This can't be. I'm sorry. Please stop. No!" She ran away from them and start into the body of Ryan. Behind him was Sam, Brianna, Ellie, and her family. They were all chanting the same thing over and over._

_"No! No no no!"_

Jaclyn sat upright and looked wildly around her. She was in Gwen's hospital room and must have dosed off. She shuddered as she thought about her dream. Then Gibbs came in with two steaming cups of cofee, handing her one before sitting down with his own.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Don't want to," she replied. fter that they fell into a comfortable silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_At NCIS...06:00..._**

Gibbs, Jaclyn, and Gwen walked out of the elevator and saw Tony and Ziva talking quietly to one another. As soon as they walked in, the two of them immediately stopped their conversation.

"This is Agents Ziva and Tony. They helped rescue you," Jaclyn said, talking to Gwen.

"Thank you," Gwen said to the two Agents.

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked. Right at that moment Gibbs phone rang. "Gibbs...Okay, McGee, we'll be right there. That was McGee. He and Abby found something.

They all walked into Abby's lab and came to a stop before her.

"What do got, Abbs?"

"Gibbs!" she squealed and ran over to hug him. "So glad you could make it. And you must be Gwen. I'm extra glad you are here! So anyway, Gibbs, do you remember that weird substance Ducky found around our vic's mouth?" At his nod she continued. "Well, we identified it! It comes from a glove that's not very rare."

"And how does this help us?"

"Because," McGee said,"Its not very rare if we were living in 1987. These kind of gloves stopped being made because they caused rashes."

"So we searched for warehouses where these used to be made. There is only one in the D.C. area. The address is in your phones."

"Good work, Abs. Would you mind taking care of Gwen while we go?"

"No problemo, bossman! Hey, Gwen, want to meet Bert?"

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_At the warehouse..._**

The cars pulled up and everyone got out, already geared up.

"McGee, Ziva you take the back door. Tony, take the side door. Jackie, your with me." Everyone went to there assigned positions and on the count of three went in. Inside was pitch black and their flashlight only illuminated so much. There was only one spot where the sun shined through a hole in the roof in the middle of the empty warehouse. They all met there and looked around.

"Nothing here boss," Tony said."Where's Jaclyn?"

"Behind you," a voice said and they all turned around and saw a man holding a gun at Jaclyn's head.

"NCIS, put the gun down or we will shoot!"Gibbs shouted.

"Here's a better idea. You put your gun down and I want shoot little Jaclyn here in the head."

They agents started lowering their guns, but before they were all of the way down Jaclyn kicked behind her and hit the man's leg. The pain made him loosen his grip and she twisted out of his grasp. Then she grabbed his hand that was holing the gun and twisted it until she heard it snap. After that she kicked him in the stomach, knocking his breath out, and then hit him on the collarbone with her elbow so that he couldn't raise his arms. she then grabbed his non-broken wrist and twisted it behind him grabbing her. She kicked his knee forcing him to kneel down. Then she held her slim arm knife at his throat.

"Don't move," she hissed.

"McGee cuff him and take him outside. Lets get him back to NCIS for interrogation." McGee cuffed him and started walking him to the door with Ziva's help.

"That was awesome, Jacks! Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"You pick up a few things here and there. And my dad was in the military, so was Sam. They taught me some things," she said in response to Tony's question, re-sheathing her knife under her sleeve and watching as the man was taken out. As she was watching, she saw him press his watch on his wrist as they were going outside.

"Bomb!" she yelled."He set off a bomb! Run!" And she ran, pushing the two agents in front of her. As she was running past a table, she grabbed whatever she could. She was the last to get out of the door, and as she jumped down the stairs they were all thrown forward into the ground as the building exploded behind them.

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**A/N-**Please review and tell me what you think! It won't take long! Just to let me know you are all still reading it. Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5:Of Tears and Secrets

**A/N-**Thank you for bearing with me and sorry for the waiting. I meant to have this done a long time ago, but I had a bad case a writer's block. The next chapters might be farter and farter in between cause school starts tomorrow.

**Disclaimer-**I don't own NCIS or the characters. I only own the idea and the people you don't recognize

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**Chapter 5: Of Tears and Secrets**

**_At the warehouse..._**

****Jackie stood up after the explosion and wiped the blood out of her eye from a cut above her eyebrow before looking around. Her ears were still ringing and her wrists and hands were bleeding again with a few new cuts and scrapes to add to the list. Still it could be worse, she could've been inside the building when it exploded. She suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone and started looking for the others.

"Gibbs! McGee, Ziva, Tony! Anyone!" she shouted. Her shouts were met with silence, interrupted only by a sound on the other side of the vehicle. She started walking that way and saw that another bomb had been set off to the left by where Ziva and McGee were standing. Once she got to the other side of the car, Jaclyn saw the man from the warehouse, Paul was his name, running to the road where a car was waiting for him.

As soon as she saw him, she started giving chase. "Stop! Stop right there!" she yelled after his retreating form. _Why, of all times, don't I have a gun? _she thought. _But I do have my knives._ And taking out one of her precious throwing knives, she took it in her hand, gauged the distance between them, put back her hand, and threw. She was awarded by a thunk as she hit her target and he fell to the ground, a knife protruding from his leg. Jaclyn ran the last one hundred yards and knelt on his back. She pulled some twisty ties out of her boot and tightened them around Paul's wrists, causing him to cry out in pain as she tightened it around his broken. When she was done, she heard footsteps approaching."The car that was to get him already pulled away, but I got a description and partial license plate. I think he might need to go to the hospital though. And I know that my knife is going to be evidence, but I really would like it back as soon as possible.

"From what I could see, the main bomb, the one in the warehouse, set off another, smaller one by where McGee and Ziva were. Paul, that's who this is, knew what was going to happen so he ducked behind the car where he was sheltered from the explosions. That's how he was able to run. When I got up, I saw him and gave chase, but he was too far away so I threw this knife at him to stop him." After saying this, she turned her head to stare at Gibbs. "We need to start asking him questions. He might know where Amanda and Robert are."

"Are you all right? You were the closest one to the explosion."

"In all truths, McGee and Ziva were closer to an explosion than I was. I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises. What about everyone else? I would've stayed and helped them, but I didn't want to let him get away."

"They're fine, just a little banged up. They stayed to contain the crime scene."

"Come on, lets get him back there."

They started walking back, supporting Paul who couldn't walk with a knife sticking out of his leg. When they arrived back at what's left of the warehouse, they deposited Paul at the ambulance and walked over to where the others were.

"Jackie, there you are! We thought you were in the building, where were you?" McGee asked.

"She had to chase after our prisoner, Paul. Ziva, DiNozzo, I need you two to go to the hospital and bring Paul back to NCIS as soon as you can. Don't let him out of your sight, he may try to escape again."

"What happened to him? How could he be running if he was that injured?" Tony asked.

"He got injured because he was running. I threw a knife at him to stop him." Jackie said, staring at Tony.

"Come on, Ziva. Looks like the ambulance is leaving." Tony said, staring at Jaclyn with a mixture of awe and fright.

With a half-smile Gibbs turned back to McGee and said,"You get the evidence and help Abby go through it. I want anything you can salvage. I'll send another team out to help you. Jaclyn, you and I are going back to NCIS. I got a call from Abby before the explosions, they sent another note."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_NCIS HQ...0700..._**

****Jaclyn and Gibbs walked out of the elevator and into the bullpen where Abby was with Gwen.

"Gibbs! You're alright! I heard the explosion on the phone and I didn't know if you made it out! Wait, where's Everyone else? Don't tell me! Please no! Gibbs tell me-"

"Abby, breathe! They're all fine. McGee is helping to get the evidence and Tony and Ziva are at the hospital with our suspect. We came to see the note."

Abby took a deep breath and turned around." Don't scare me, Gibbs. You should've called back. Here's the note. I tried to track it, but no luck so far. These guys are good."

"Thanks, Abby. And I would've called, but my phone was destroyed. Jackie has a name she needs you to run for hits. Jackie,"he said turning around and seeing no sign of her,"Where is she?"

"I don't know. Gwen is gone too."

"We're right here. I needed to get cleaned up and Gwen came with me. Did you look at the video yet?"

"No, Abby you can go back after getting that name from Jackie, McGee should be getting back with the evidence."

"The name is Paul Wenston,"Jackie said."Now where's that note?"

Abby left to go run the name and help McGee after she had put the note up. They both walked to the screen and Jaclyn read it out loud,"It says:

Dear Jaclyn,

So I see you saved young Gwen,

And managed to kill one of my men

For achieving this I congratulate you

By granting you another clue

This time it is somewhat different

For you won't get the help the agents lent.

You must do this on your own

If you want to see this family back home

You will go where this all started

Where our ways first parted

And walk down memory lane

Your instructions are very plain

And if you don't do what is said

I will shoot a friend in the head.

Well, I guess I better get going then,"Jackie said as she walked away from the screen.

"No, _we _better get going,"Gibbs said correcting her.

"You heard what the note said! I have to go alone or he will _kill_ one of them! I have to do it alone, Gibbs, and you know that."

"Will he really kill one of them?"a small, scared voice asked from behind them. Jaclyn turned around and saw Gwen standing there. She had forgotten that she was even there still.

"No, sweetie. I won't let him. I'm going to go and get them back right now. I need you to stay here with Uncle Jethro, okay?"

"How's he my uncle?"

"You're like my little sister, right?" at he nod Jackie continued,"Well, he's my uncle so in a way that makes him your uncle."

"Okay,"she said and gave Jaclyn a hug before standing by Gibbs who was hanging up his phone.

"Tony and Ziva just got back from the hospital. There in the interrogation room right now, but he's refusing to talk to anybody until he speaks to you first."

"I'll speak to him and then I'll leave. Call me if you find anything,"she said as started waking up the steps. Gibbs looked at Gwen and went to take her down to Abby before heading to interrogation himself. He walked into the room and turned to the glass to see Jaclyn and Paul staring at each other."Has he said anything yet?"

"Nothing in English,"Tony answered.

"What do you mean?"

"He's only speaking Farsi,"Ziva said."Shush I think they're saying something."

They turned to glass to watch the exchange between the two.

".هیچی ندارم بهت بگم

".مطمئنم یه چیزی به ذهنت میرسه. حالا میشه  
این بحثو به انگلیسی ادامه بدیم؟ اینجا  
کسایی دارن نگاهمون میکنن که نمیفهمن تو چی  
داری میگی"  
".تو میخوای که اونا بفهمن؟ ممکنه نخوای اونا  
همه چیزایی رو که من احتمال داره بگمو بشونن.  
میدونی که منظورم چیه"  
".فقط انگلیسی حرف بزن"**Translation at bottom**

"Fine, I'll speak English. What do you want to know?"

"What were you hiding in that warehouse? Or were you just trying to kill us? Right now you're facing charges on attempted murder of five people, four of whom are federal agents. Resisting arrest not once, but twice, and setting off explosives that may have destroyed crucial evidence. Things aren't looking good for you. Did I mention trying to escape police custody?"

"You know that Master Jacob doesn't want you dead. The others he doesn't care about, but you, he wants you alive. Just not yet. You better get going if you're going to make it to Pillow in time. He's planning things for you, Jackie. Great things, greater than you could ever imagine. Your training will come in handy, and we didn't even have to spend the time teaching you. _She _did it for you. And what did she teach you to do? What was it? That's right, to assassinate people."

"Shut up! You know nothing about that."

"No, they no nothing about that, do they,"he said, gesturing to the others on the other side of the glass."What was her name? Masked Killer? No, that's not right. The Masked Assassin! That's it! I bet you never told them about that yet. How did you explain how you knew to throw knives, or that tricky maneuver you used in the warehouse? Or how you know me?"

"Be quiet, now!"

"What did you tell them about all of those deaths and how they were your fault? What did you tell them about what happened in Italy? What did you tell them about your father?"

"Shut up! Right now! You have no right to talk about that stuff,"Jackie said, jumping up and pushing her chair back.

"You said you wanted me to talk, I talked."

Just when it looked like Jaclyn was going to rip Paul's throat out, Gibbs opened the door and came in.

"Jaclyn, enough. This interrogation is through." Jaclyn stood there staring at Paul for another minute before storming out. She closed the door behind her, but not before hearing Paul's voice one more time.

"There deaths are all your fault! You will never be able to wash their blood off your hands." And he was right, she wouldn't be able to. But she could try to right some the wrongs and save the friends she still had alive and that's what she was going to do, even if the cost was her life.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Abby's lab...0800..._**

****Gibbs walked down to the lab with a caf-pow in hand. After he had interrupted that interrogation Jaclyn had disappeared and he couldn't get a hold of her. His guess was that she had gone to Pillows on her own, just like the note said. He sent Tony and Ziva to follow up on a lead from the murder case they still had to solve and he was heading down to see what Abby and McGee had been able to find. He hoped it was good news for he didn't know how much longer he could go on this way. They needed a break and soon. That got him started on thinking of Jaclyn again. He hoped she was okay. He kept pondering what he had heard at the interrogation over and over in his mind. He knew that Jaclyn had secrets, but he hadn't known her for long enough to ask and she hadn't told him yet. As he walked into the lab, one of Abby's machines started to ding, alerting her that they had something.

"Hope you got good news for me."

"Gibbs! I was about to call! That's so weird. Your psychic sense is still there! And I see so is your impatience. Okay well over to the first thing. The explosives, personally my favorite, were your average bomb. It looks as if it was a few blocks of C-4, probably bought off the black market. It was set off by this watch which the subject was wearing. But we already knew that he had set it off so I guess case closed on that."

"Tell me something I don't know yet."

"Someone didn't get there morning coffee! Over here we have a burn phone that hasn't been used, some gloves that are the same substance that was found around the petty officers mouth, and a pocket knife that was all rescued before the explosion, courtesy of Jaclyn. I'm running them all for fingerprints but so far none. The burn phone is useless since no one made any calls on it. I'm trying to see if I can narrow down where the gloves were purchased, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. It's a pretty common brand. I found a small amount of blood the knife and I am running it right now, but so far nothing."

"Boss,"McGee said, taking his turn,"the plates that Jaclyn gave me came up as a stolen vehicle. It was found by the police and I sent two agents out to get it. I lifted two sets of prints off of it. One belonged to the owner and I'm running the other one through AFIS. Nothing so far."

Gibbs looked around and was about to go when the one of her many machines beeped again. Abby went over to it and looked at what it got.

"Gibbs! Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! She was right, you and Jackie are related! I just got the results back and you share a 45% DNA match. Which means you are either her father or her fathers brother. Cause a person shares their parents blood equally. That means she would have 50% her mother and 50% her father. Uncles and aunts would have from a 40% to 50%. So this means you are indeed her uncle!"

"Good work, Abby. Thanks," he said kissing her on the cheek and handing her the caf-pow.

"Hey, boss, where is Jaclyn?" McGee asked.

"Good question, McGee, she went off on her own because that's what the last note said. I tried calling her, but she won't pick-up. If I follow her, he will kill one of the parents."

"I can track her phone."

"Don't bother, I know where she is." And with that Gibbs walked out leaving McGee and Abby staring worriedly at each other.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_In Pillow, Pennsylvania...0930..._**

****Jaclyn stepped out of the cab onto the street in front of her first home. She knew that this was the best place to start, so she walked towards the empty house. Looking around, she quickly picked the lock and stepped in. It looked as if no one had been in here for awhile. Jackie very slowly walked through the house, pushing back memories and holding back tears. It had been an hour and a half train ride and that whole time she had been wondering what the others were thinking about the conversation she had had with

Paul. His words kept coming back to her and she knew that it was her fault.

While she was wandering, she came across a picture of her "parents" grave. She took it down and looked on the back. It was the cemeteries address. She guessed that was where she was supposed to go. Five minutes later she was in the cemetery walking the familiar path to her "parents" grave. When she found them, she fell to her knees in between both of them and thought back to when she had found out Patrick had died.

***_Flashback***_

_It was the morning after her birthday, and she walked down the stairs at the sound of the door opening. She peeked through the kitchen window and saw two men consoling her crying mother._

_"Mommy?" she said. "What's wrong? Who are these people?"_

_"Oh, darling! He-he's dead! Patty's gone!" she said and started crying uncontrollably._

_"What! Mom! Mommy! Evie! Evie, please, tell me it's not true! Tell me daddy's not dead! Get out you men! Your lying! Patrick is not dead! No!"_

_***End Flashback***_

Jaclyn opened her eyes tying to push that memory back. A man stepped up beside her and was looking at Evelyn and Patrick Samson's grave.

"You must be Jaclyn," he said. "I have a message for you."

* * *

(Translation:**"I have nothing to say to you."  
"I am sure you will think of something. Now can we continue this in English? There are people watching who do not understand what you are saying."  
"Do you want them to understand? You may not want them to hear everything I might say. If you know what I mean."  
"Just speak English."**)

**A/N-**Thank you to Callisto-HK for the translations! Please review and maybe the next chapter will appear soon.


	6. Chapter 6:A Story of the Past Begins

**A/N-**Soooo...ya I remembered the story, I never forgot! I've just been so busy! School just started so that means I have to deal with my second year of highschool. And I landed the lead role in the school play so that means memorizing, and rehearsels and school choir just started. And on Saturdays I go on side jobs with my dad.(Right now we're building an addition to a house! Just my dad, my sister, my brother, and me! But we'll get it done with girl power!) So here's the next chapter, which would be longer but unidentified wanted on the computer and so I updated with this.(I will get you back for that!) So enjoy!

**Disclaimer-**I don't own NCIS or any of the characters except those of my own creation. Though I can't wait for the new season!

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**Chapter 6:A Story of the Past Begins**

**_At the cemetery...0930..._**

"You must be Jaclyn. I have a message for you."

Jaclyn stared at the stranger from behind her hair that had fallen in front of her face."Who are you?"

"Ah, how rude of me! I'm James Ryan, message deliverer extrordinaire, and you are?" the young man said with an elegant bow.

"It seems that you already know me."

"Only a first name. That gentleman over there asked me to, and I quote,'Deliver this message to that young lady over there, her name is Jaclyn. Tell her that if she wants to see her friends, then she must come to the party at 8756 Rockford St. at 1800. It will be a blast.' Then he handed me a twenty dollar bill and walked off. So I came and delivered my message, though I would've done it without the money seeing as how pretty you are," he said, smiling at her.

"This man, what did he look like?"

"Middle-aged, good build, half of his face was a little destroyed and the other half was all scared, he had your eyes, but was a lot paler and his hair was more blonde."

"Could you take me to this Rockford place?"

"Wait, I'm not military, but I'm pretty sure that 1800 means 6:00 and its only 9:30, that's a lot of time until this party starts. Why don't you let me show you around and maybe buy you something to eat."

She was about to turn him down when she thought about it, so instead she decided to take him up on his offer. "Okay, I'm Jaclyn Samson by the way."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_In the bullpen...1000..._**

Tony and Ziva walked out of the elevator after coming back from another dead end.

"I'm telling you Ziva, something's up with that chick. I don't think she's really the boss' niece."

"What, do you think she's trying to infiltrate our system, Tony? And is using that as an excuse."

"You never know, I mean even McGee could find no record of her or of Gibbs having any brothers. And besides the eyes and maybe the nose, they look nothing alike. Though they both do have the same scary glare and-"

"And what, DiNozzo?"

"And a great personality, boss!"

"Well, your ideas are wrong. She really is my niece. Abby's tests confirmed it. Did you find anything?"

"No, boss. It lead to a dead end."

"What about the Masked Assassin Paul mentioned."

"I asked my sources," Ziva started,"and they said that the Masked Assassin is the best assassin in the world. No one knows her true identity of course, but she always wears a face mask that covers everything but her eyes. That's where she gets the name. No one knows her age, but she is guessed to be only twenty-five or so. Not very old for such an accomplished assassin."

"Accomplished? Ziva, she kills people for a living!"

"Only bad people, she doesn't do it unless she thinks that they are hurting innocents. Then she helps those they hurt."

"So she's like a robin hood," Gibbs stated.

"Yes," Ziva said continuing,"it was said that about seven years ago she took a young apprentice, but so far no one has arisen and she still does all of her assassinations alone."

"Okay, good. What did you find out about the warehouse?" Gibbs asked and listened attentively as Ziva and Tony took turns filling him in.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_At 8756 Rockford St...17:50..._**

James walked Jaclyn up to the door at 8756 Rockford St. They had spent the day wondering aound and talking about everything and anything.

"Listen, thanks for such an enjoyable day, I really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure. It doesn't look like much of a party."

"Ya, well-" Jackie started before getting cut off by a scream.

"That came from inside!" James said.

"Stay here!" Jaclyn commanded and then drawing her gun, she went inside the house. Once she was in, she started clearing the rooms, searching for the source of the scream. She was almost done and had just come up from the basement when the scream sounded again, this time much closer. Ever so silently, she made her way towards the last to rooms. She took the one on her left first and after finding nothing, made her way to the only other door.

Upon entering she saw two people tied up in chairs. A man was holding a gun to the woman's head.

"Jaclyn, so glad you could join us. I'm sure you remember Ryan and Amanda."

"Let them go. You can have me, but let them go."

"Jaclyn!" Ryan gasped,"Gwen, is she-"

"She's fine Ry. Waiting for you."

"Now Jackie, here's the deal. You have a choice to make. You can either save Mrs. Amanda Aries or Mr. Ryan Aries. Who do you chose?"

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Somewhere in the world..._**

"Whew! That was fun! We should do it again, don't you think Kathrine?"

"Yes, miss, if you want to, though I'm sure that since you already assassinated him, you can't do it again."

"Well, I guess your right. What news of my little protege? How is she faring?"

"Not so well, I'm afraid. Mr. Jacob has taken a family she knows hostage and has already killed the father's brother. She has managed to save the girl with the agents, including her real uncle's, help, but the parents are seemingly more difficult."

"Hmm, how sad, and right after what happened in Italy too. I wish I could help her more. And what about her uncle, is he anything like her father?"

"No, the exact opposite it would seem. He might be able to help her."

"Good. I still can't believe my poor sister, well never mind. Send her a gift from me, maybe that dagger she admires so. What else do I have for today?"

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_At 8756 Rockford St..._**

"Who do you chose, Jaclyn? You have only two more minutes to decide."

Jaclyn looked from Ryan to Amanda. How was she supposed to chose? She knew that Ryan, Sam, and Robert would tell her to save Amanda, but how could she let Ryan die! Glancing around, she saw a window and standing outside the window was none other than James Ryan holding what looked to be a crow bar in his hand. He started signaling to her that he would shatter the glass to cause a distraction. She gave a minute nod of her hand and started counting down to three in her head.

"I chose..." at that moment the glass behind the gunman shattered, showering them all in glass. He quickly turned around and as soon as he did, Jaclyn ran up and knocked him out with her gun.

"Amanda! Ryan! I'm so sorry!" she said, running to them and slicing through their bonds.

"Oh, Jackie, thank you! Thank you so much!" Amanda cried, embracing her savior.

"Why are you thanking me?! I almost got you and Ryan killed!"

"Yes, but you saved us," Ryan said coming up behind his wife and wrapping her in his arms.

"I had help. Guys this is James Ryan, he's the one you really need to thank. If he hadn't come along when he did, you might have been dead."

"Thank you so much. I don't know how we can ever repay you."

"Its fine. Now, I'm sure that you will want to get back to your daughter, but might I have a word with Jackie?"

"Sure," they said together and stepped out into the hall.

"Thank you so much for that, James. And thank you again for the wonderful day. It was fun getting my mind off of things for awhile."

"Not a problem. It was my pleasure. I hope you beat that man you were talking about, he sounds like bad news. And its a good thing you told me a bit about yourself or else I would've freaked out when you pulled that gun! You better get going if you want to get them back to there daughter before the train leaves."

"I wish we could've had a chance to get to know each other better. Maybe, one day, I'll come back and we can get together."

"I'll be waiting," he said, and then she left without another word.

"Come on you two, we have a train to catch."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Unknown location..._**

"Sir, she has rescued the parents and is heading back to NCIS."

"Good, very good. Send the video once she arrives. It's time they know who she really is."

"Yes, sir. How do you know they will believe it?"

"Trust me, I know. Did you make sure you got all of them?"

"Yes, I have all thirteen."

"Nine, I thought it was only eleven?"

"I added the two guards, too."

"Good thinking, now what about your brother, Paul."

"He has been captured, but so far he hasn't said anything."

"Do I need to send someone to get rid of him?"

"No, sir, he can hold his tongue."

"If he doesn't, its your life too. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Very good, now get me that number."

"Its already written down on the pad on the side-table."

"Send the video at 2010 hours. Don't mess this up."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_NCIS headquarters...2010..._**

"I just got a call from Jackie, they're on their way up," Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen where McGee, Tony, Ziva, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and Gwen were sitting, waiting.

"Did she save them?"McGee asked.

Gwen stared at Gibbs with fear in her eyes, waiting for an answer. He looked back at her an said,"Yes, she has them with her, safe and sound."

"Yes! When can I see them?!"

"In a few seconds," he said smiling.

Then McGee's voice came from over by his computer. "Boss, I got an e-mail from an unknown address. It says open right away if you want to know who Jaclyn Gibbs really is."

"Open it."

"It's a video link."

"Put it up on the screen."

"Okay, here it is."

Everyone turned to the screen and watched as it went black. Then the words "_Do you really know who Jaclyn Angelica Ara Coeli Gibbs really is? She is a liar, a fighter, and...a murderer...of thirteen defenseless victims."_

The screen went black again and a few seconds later a picture of a beautiful young lady appeared on the screen. Everyone's attention was so focused on the screen that no one noticed Jaclyn had walked into the room and stood at the back, drenched by rain and wiping a tear from her eye. Beneath the picture of the lady came the words "_This is her first victim, Alyx." _then five more pictures came on with the words "_Patrick, Evelyn, Sam, Briana, and Robert were all victims."_ next the family from the case came up with their names underneath them. Then a picture of a handsome young man came on. "_This is Kyle Philip, and these are two others, Jeff and Hubert, who left behind families."_ the video went on, showing two more pictures. "_These people were killed because they knew Jaclyn. Do you want to end up like them?" _Then pictures of everyone showed up, except this time it was their bloody corpses. The screen went black and the video stopped with pictures of all thirteen people up on the screen, before death.

All of the people in the room were frozen in place as they watched Jackie slowly make her way to the screen. She stopped in front of it and put her fingers on the screen. "I'm so sorry!" she whispered as a single tear rain down her face. The phone on Tony's desk began ringing, but before he could answer it, Jaclyn beat him to it.

"What!" she said,"No, I won't come until you stop hurting the people I care about...Don't you dare touch any of them! I just got them back to safety!...Then who?...You wouldn't! He's my family!...Don't you daughter me! I stopped being your daughter the day you gave me away!" The he slammed the phone down. She walked back to the screen and put her fingers on the faces of the victims. "I'm so sorry! It's all my fault," she whispered again, and then ran for the stairs before anyone could stop her.

"Jaclyn!" Gibbs yelled. "Where's she going? What's going on?I thought her father was dead!" he said to the couple that stood there hugging their daughter.

Ryan answered saying,"He's back. He killed my mother and father and now my brother. He tried to kill my wife and child as well."

"Who's _he_?"

"It's not my story to tell, you will have to ask Jaclyn, she'll definitely tell you now."

His wife Amanda spoke up,"You all better go. She'll only want to say it once but she'll want you all to hear. Do you have roof access?"

"Yes"

"She'll be there."

**~~~ncis~~~**

_**On**_ **_the roof...2030..._**

The entire team and company exited onto the roof and saw a small figure huddled in the rain in the middle of the roof. They could see her shoulders were shaking but whether from the ran or because she was crying they couldn't tell. They made their way over to her and Gibbs knelt next to her.

"I'm sorry," came the muffled voice as she lifted her head up, "I'm so so sorry, all of you." She said looking first at everyone else, her eyes finally resting on Gibbs. "It's all my fault. All of those people are dead because of me, he's right."

"What happened? What do you mean?"

Tears mixed with rain as they ran down her face and she looked past her uncle and into the distance. "You can't stop me to ask questions, because if I stop to answer, I won't be able to continue. I wasn't lying when I said my father was dead, he is to me. For you to understand I'll have to start when he was born. Jacob John Gibbs wasn't the only sibling you didn't know about. He had a twin sister, Demitrivenna Thecla Gibbs, Mitri or Minnie they called her. She was a perfect daughter, but not long after they were born your mother died leaving your father with two children to care for. You were deployed somewhere, uncle. So they grew up, Minnie never getting in trouble, perfect grades, scared of everything, and only wanting to do what was right. Jacob was the exact opposite, all ways in trouble, skipping school, flunking out, setting things on fire, and above all he hated his sister for being a perfect little angel. A week before their sixteenth birthday when they were both learning to drive and about to get their driver's license, Jacob got fed up with Minnie. He tricked her into climbing into the car by telling her that their dad was going to go to the store and wanted her to go with him. But Jacob got in the other side and started it up, setting a course for the hillside. Halfway there, he opened his door to jump out and she saw what he was doing. She tried to unbuckle her seatbelt, but he had made it so it would jam. She looked to him for help, but he just smiled and jumped out. A few seconds later the car crashed into the side of the hill.

Their dad was so happy that his son was alive and relatively unhurt, just a long gash on the side of his face, that he didn't question the story. That is until his daughter woke up in the hospital and told him what happened. She died two weeks after her birthday. Her dad was so mad that he disowned his son and sent him on his way. He changed his name and joined the marines like his older brother. That was where he met Patrick O'Donnell and they became the best of friends. A year after being in the marines, Jacob's left side of his face was destroyed in an explosion and he was sent home with an honorary discharge and a purple heart. That was where he met Alyx Mae. A few months after he met her they got married and she became pregnant with me a little after that. The day of my birth was their wedding anniversary, but my mom died in child-labor. That was when Jacob died to me. He blamed me for her death and gave me to Patrick and his wife Evelyn who couldn't have children of their own.

I was two when I found out that they weren't my real parents. From then on I convinced Patty to train me in fighting styles so I could be like my two dads. On my fourth birthday, he was called out. The next morning two men came and told us he had died in an explosion. My mother was devastated. I got an e-mail a few days later that said that I shouldn't have gotten too close, because the people closest to you always die. I know now that it was my father but back then I just ignored it. Two years later my mom disappeared on my birthday and I thought she had gone out to get drunk. An hour later two police officers showed up and told me my mom had been hit by a drunk driver. I went to the hospital with them where I saw her draw her last breath. I ran. I was so mad at her because I thought she was drunk and that's why she got hit, but I found out a week later that she had gone out with what little money we had to get me a cake and a few presents for my birthday. I couldn't face people right then so I just walked on my own.

When I was six and a half Sam found me on the road and he and Briana, his wife, took me in. He taught me more fighting styles and hacking and so much more. He was an ex-spy and was really gentle and kind. I met Robert, Ryan, Amanda, and Gwen while with them I was with him when Ella and her family were killed, murdered because they knew me. On my eighth birthday I crept down the stairs cause I heard screams. I saw Sam and Briana tied in chairs being tortured and asked where I was. I couldn't take it so I jumped down and had killed one guard and injured another before they caught me. I was forced to watch as they shot first Briana and then Sam in the head and then dragged me out, leaving behind the corpse of the guard and an unknown woman and burning the house down. Halfway down the drive-way my captors were attacked and I was taken by a new set of people. They took me to the Masked Assassin where I learned all of the languages of the world, the sign-language for those languages, more fighting, hacking, and acting. To sum it all up, I was trained to be one of the best assassins. I was there for one and a half years before I escaped. That was when Jenny Shepherd found me."

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**A/N-**Please review and I might get the next chapter up sooner! I won't take long!


	7. Chapter 7:Father and Daughter Re-unite

**A/N-**hehe...hello? Well, I'm very sorry for the long delay but it seems as though there aren't enough hours in the day! I hope you enjoy this sad chapter and if anyone has any ideas for this story, I'll be glad to hear them. I have some ideas I'm just not sure which ones to do and hearing another opinion would be great!

**Disclaimer-**I do not own NCIS or the characters except for the ones you don't recognize!

* * *

**_On the roof...2100..._**

Jackie looked up for the first time since beginning and stared off into the distance as she resumed her story. "Jenny found me in the streets and she took me home and then to NCIS the next day. I saw all of you there and met Ducky. As I said before, that was before I knew we were related. After about six months, Jacob came after me again and I told Jenny everything. She helped me get out of the country and into Italy and asked a friend of hers, Mr. Antonio Romano, if I could stay there with them. I was ten when I first met them. Three years later, their son, Alexander, and I started hanging out more. We fell in love...I know I was only thirteen, but he promised to wait until I was at least nineteen and he graduated from college. We had everything planned out and we spent two happy years without a problem. I told him about Jacob and everything. I finally thought that I was free of pain and suffering and I could live happily in Italy for the rest of my life."

After she was silent for a few moments, Gibbs spoke up,"What happened?"

"He found me, what do you think happened," she snapped. "It was on my fifteenth birthday. We had spent the day with his family and a few friends and now we were alone. We were sitting on a couch staring out of a picture window, watching the sunset. He had just given me my birthday present, this necklace I always wear, and we were just enjoying each others company when shots rang out. The glass shattered all around us and I felt immense pain in my shoulder. I looked down to see blood and then I looked over and Alex was on the ground. He wasn't moving and there was so much blood already. I immediately forgot about my shoulder and fell down next to him. I tried to stop some of the blood, but there was too much. Seconds later an arrow came flying through the window and hit the couch. There was a piece of paper on the arrow and when I read it, it said that this should teach me to not run away, to give up before more people got hurt. Then another arrow came flying through the window; except on this one, the tip was flaming. Smoke started to fill up the room and I knelt down by Alex's body and put his head into my lap, there was no way I was leaving him. He started to whisper something so I leaned down to hear him...

_***Flashback***_

_ "Go! Get out!" Alex shouted to Jackie, but in his state it was barely a whisper._

_"No, I'm not leaving you! I can't!" Jackie exclaimed, tears running down her face._

_"Please...*cough*...go. Please, I don't...*cough*...want you to die."_

_"I-I can't leave you alone, don't make...*cough*...me." By now Jackie was breathing hysterically, tears were blurring her vision, and smoke was choking her._

_"There is no hope for me, but you...*cough cough*...can still...make it."_

_"No, I can't leave you! You'll be okay! Please be okay! You have to."_

_"I...lo...*cough*...love...you." Alex said as his head rolled forward and he fell unconscious._

_"No! No! Please..*cough cough*...no! Alex! Alex! Please, don't...do this...*cough*...to me! Please everyone leaves me please don't. ALEX!" Jackie shook his shoulders, but it was useless. She looked around and could only see flames and smoke. It was everywhere, it filled her lungs, stung her eyes. She knew she needed to leave now or they would both die. With strength she didn't know she had, she lifted Alex up and started to drag him towards the door. Her vision swam and she tottered back and forth. The door was right in front of her now and she barely managed to open it. She walked outside but only got a few yards before she fell to the ground, exhausted both mentally and physically. She looked over and saw Alex's face next to her. She grabbed his hand and fell into a peaceful oblivion._

_***End Flashback*** _

"That was the last thing I remember until I woke up in a hospital bed and Alex's dad was sitting beside me. I th-thought that Alex was still alive, and I was yelling at everyone...

_***Flashback***_

_"Wh-what happened?" a very groggy Jackie said. Her head pounded, her lungs burned, and her shoulder felt like it was on fire, but she could remember nothing that would tell her why she hurt like this. She looked over and saw Mr. Romano sitting beside her. "Where's Alex?" she said, trying to sit up. _

_"Hey, take it easy. You've been through a lot."_

_"What have I been through? Where's Alex at?"_

_"You mean, you don't remember, at all?"_

_"No, I remember it being my birthday and Alex and I were in the living room, but from then on its blank."_

_"Honey, someone attacked the house. You and Alex were in the house."_

_"So Alex is just in the next room, or one of these. Why didn't you just say that to begin with!"_

_"Jacks, Alex, he didn't make it. You got him out of the house, but it was too late."_

_"No, no no no! You're lying! He didn't die! Please! Tell me he didn't!"_

_"Why would I lie about my own son! My son." Jackie's memories came back in a rush._ _She heard gunshots in the distance, saw flames, heard Alex's dying words, "I love you," and eventually saw as the life left his eyes. "No! Please no! Why! It-it can't be! I-it can't be..."_

_"I wish it weren't. I really do, he was my son! My son! Do you know how that feels! He was my only son, my only child!"_

_***End Flashback***_

"After that, I spent a few days in the hospital then went to his grave, they did the funeral without me. I spent his birthday with him at his grave, it was only ten days after mine...I spent only three more days in Italy until I couldn't take it anymore...everything reminded me of him...I had to leave...I-I couldn't stay there. So I came back here and started looking for Ryan, and you know the rest," Jackie said, finally ending her long narrative. Her tears mingled with the rain drops on her face so that you couldn't distinguish between the two. She looked off into the distance, not ready to see the pity in everyone's faces.

"Jaclyn," Gibbs said, kneeling down beside her, "we'll get him, you have my word."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

_**NCIS Bullpen...2130...**_

They all walked into the bullpen, and Gibbs took a look around at everyone's wet appearance.

"Tony, Ziva, McGee, find some dry clothes to change into and get me Agent Fries to take Robert and his family to the safe house. Jackie,"

"Can I go with Robert, Amanda, and Gwen to their safe house? Then I'll come back and do whatever you want me to, I need to know that they're safe."

"Okay, tell Agent Morris to go with you and bring you back."

"Thanks."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Safe house...2245..._**

"You guys will be fine here, alright. I'm sorry for everything that's happened, its all my fault."

"Its fine, Jackie. You saved us and we're together now, that's all that matters. But you need to be careful and very cautious," Robert said, giving her a hug.

"Please be safe," Amanda whispered in her ear as she hugged her as well.

"Bye, guys. Love you! I have to go now, Agent Morris is waiting for me," Jackie said as she walked out the door and closed it behind her. She walked down the sidewalk to the waiting car and looked behind her to see Gwen waving at her form the window. She smiled and waved back.

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_NCIS...2300..._**

Gibbs was sitting behind his desk looking over the case when his cell rang.

"Gibbs...We are taking no chances with this. Get Tony and Ziva and bring the car around, I'll be right there."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_En route to safe house...2325..._**

Gibbs was driving like crazy. The feeling in his gut was growing and he knew he had to get to the safe house. Everyone in the car was completely silent readying themselves for whatever the may face. Turning the corner to the street of the safe house, the blood froze in their viens.

**_Airport...same time..._**

Two men were waiting to unboard a plane in D.C. At a glance you could tell they were related, perhaps father and son, but it seemed that they were fighting at the moment.

"Come on, please. I was trying to protect you! You have to understand! I said I was sorry!"

"You told me she was dead! You let me believe she had died! Sorry is NOT going to fix that! What were you thinking?"

"I was trying to protect you, you almost died because of her."

"So?! You have some serious explaining to do to her, if she is still alive."

"I know, I know."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Safe house..._**

As Jackie waved back to Gwen the house exploded in front of her. The force of the explosion sent Jaclyn flying forward and showered her with shrapnel from the house. She slammed into the ground headfirst and was knocked unconscious. When she came to it was only a few minutes later and she tried to sit up. She immediately regretted that decision when her injuries became clear. A cut above her eyebrow was definitely going to need stitches, she definitely had a concussion, at least three broken ribs, if not more, and there seemed to be a piece of the house stuck in her shoulder. She shakily stood up and Agent Morris came over to help.

"Jaclyn are you okay?"

"I-I think so. Robert! Amanda! Gwen!" she yelled as she ran for the house.

"No! Its too dangerous, its still on fire! There's no hope, they're gone!"

"Yes, Jaclyn, listen to the nice man. Its too late. You can't save them."

At the sound of that voice, Jaclyn's blood went cold. She turned around to see the man that was the cause of all of this and a few of his men behind him. Agent Morris reached for his gun upon turning around, but he didn't get far before one of the men fired at him and he fell to the ground, bleeding and wounded.

"Stop! What did he do, Jacob. What did any of these people do!"

"Don't you see, darling, its not what they did, its because of you."

"Then just take me, but leave them alone."

"But, you have to come to me willingly or it doesn't work. I love you my daughter, but I need to know you'll love me, even if I kill everyone else you care about."

"You-you sick monster! How could anyone ever love you! I am going to **destroy** you," she said, finishing in a deathly silent voice. Her father stared at her with his one eye for a long minute before he signaled to him men. Two of the men in front steeped out and went behind Jackie, the other two went and stood in front, completely surrounding her.

"Now, Jaclyn, that's no way to speak to your father. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you," Jacob said, giving a nod to one of his men. He came up and punched her on the jaw before she could register what was happening. The force of the blow knocked her backwards into one of the other men, who pushed her to the ground. She landed on her injured shoulder and let a small cry escape before she could stop it. Then the men proceeded to kick her, definitely breaking any ribs that were only cracked before.

"Stop," Jacob said, "get her off the ground." Two of the men roughly dragged her up and held her there. She hung her head and waited for her father to get close.

"I'm surprised your not fighting back, Jackie. Had enough?" When she heard his voice, she snapped her head up and pulled free of the hold the men had on her. Ignoring the pain that covered every inch of her body, she kicked one of the men in the chest, knocking him to the ground before slamming her foot on his head, putting him out of commission, then she knocked the other guy unconscious and turned around to face the other two. One came at her from the side, but she deflected the blow and retaliated with her own, feeling bone break under her fist she let him fall, clutching his nose. Before she could get to the last man, he pulled a gun on her and she froze in place. The one guy that wasn't unconscious was getting up and helping the other two who were coming around. They surrounded her once again as her father walked closer to her.

"Now, there's the Jackie I know! That Masked Assassin has taught you well!"

"What...do you..want..with me," Jackie said, breathing heavily.

"I want you to love me! I want you to want to spend every day with me! I want you to be like your mother was!" he screamed. Everyone was completely silent, the only noise you could hear was the heavy breathing of the people standing there and police sirens in the distance getting closer. "We have to go, goodbye for now, Jackie, dear," Jacob said, pulling out his personal gun, "Tell my brother hi for me, he should be here in a few minutes, shouldn't he?" And with that, he brought the gun swinging around and crashing down on her head, knocking her out cold. "Come on, lets go."

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

**_Gibbs Car..._**

Everyone in the car froze for a second until Gibbs snapped out of it. "McGee, Ziva, go right. DiNozzo, you and I go left."

"Yes, boss," all three said as they jumped to do as they were told.

"Boss," McGee shouted, "I found Agent Morris! He's alive, but barely!"

"Ziva call 9-1-1, tell them we have an officer down, now!. Tony, do you see anyone?"

"I found Jaclyn boss. She's alive, but needs immediate medical attention as well."

"There's no point in checking in the house, no one could have survived that. Lets focus on these two, Ziva, ETA on those ambulances?"

"Five minutes, boss"

**_~~~ncis~~~_**

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**_Authors Note:_** Well, I hope to have more for you soon..again sorry for the delay :\ I hope you can forgive me. Reviews are much welcomed and any ideas you have to offer are as well :) thank you!


	8. Chapter 8: Memories

_**A/N-**_Sorry this took so long. Had a bit of writer's block and then everything was very busy. Hope you enjoy! I hope to get the next chapter up sooner! I hope everyone has a very blessed Lent.

**Disclaimer**- I don't own any of the characters that you recognize.

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**_At Safe House...2350..._**

Ten minutes later firemen were working hard to put out the rest of the flames and secure the houses foundation so as to be sure it wouldn't collapse when the team went to collect evidence. Gibbs watched impatiently, wishing they would get done so he could get to the hospital and check on his niece. He looked over as McGee walked up beside him.

"I called Ducky, he and Jimmy are on their way here."

"Good. Did you find out if Agent Morris and Agent Fries had any family?"

"Yes, boss..."

"And?"

"Agent Morris had a wife and three kids, one is nine, the other is 5, and then they have a two month old baby. Agent Fries lived with his parents and was engaged."

"Give...give me their addresses, I want to pay them a visit when this is all done."

"Yes, boss. I spoke to the director, he's sending another team to help with the evidence."

"Tell me when they get here. Do we have the all clear from the fire chief?"

"Yes, we just got it."

"Tell Tony and Ziva. Lets go."

The team walked into what remained of the safe house. "Tony, take pictures, Ziva and McGee, bag and tag."

A chorus of "Yes, boss " followed as the agents did their assigned jobs.

"Ah, Jethro, how is our young friend doing?"

"At the hospital, Duck. She was still unconscious when the ambulance left."

"I am sure she will be fine. I can't say the same for our other friends."

"What can you tell me?"

"Not much I'm afraid. It seems that little Gwen was at the window at the time of the explosion. Her parents were standing over there, and Agent Fries was by the door. As for Agent Morris, he was shot three times in the chest, point blank range. Any one of them could have been fatal shots. I might know more when i get them back to autopsy."

Gibbs left Ducky and walked over to where the second team had just arrived.

"Agent Gibbs, my team is here to help. Where do you want us?"

"Agent Collins, I'm sorry about Morris and Fries, they were good men. Start collecting evidence, I need to get to the hospital, you can reach me on my cell."

"Thank you, I have just informed their families. We want to catch these creeps, we'll help in any way."

Gibbs left Collins team and his own to handle the evidence and made his way to the hospital.

**_Bullpen...2 hours later..._**

**** "Do you think Jaclyn will be alright?" McGee asked the other two as they stepped off the elevator.

"Ya, I'm sure she will," Tony began before stopping at the sight of two unfamiliar Italian men standing by their desks. "Who are they?"

"I have no idea, Tony. Why don't you go figure that out?" Ziva said, also catching sight of the men.

"Hello, I am Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, how may I help you?"

"We are looking for Agent Gibbs," said the older of the two in a think Italian accent. "We were told we could find him here."

"I'm sorry, he is unavailable right now, perhaps I could help you."

"We can come back, when will he be available?"

"I don't know, is there a way I can contact you to let you know?

"Umm..no, its ok-"

"We can ask you," the younger one cut in, "we wanted to ask Agent Gibbs about a young girl named Jaclyn. Do you know if he knows anything? We need to find her."

"What do you know about Jaclyn?"

"She is a close friend of ours," the older one said, "We need to find her."

"Why do you need to find her?"

"I-I need to confess to her. Before she left, I lied to her, I need to make it right. May I speak to her?"

"I'm afraid she is busy at the moment, but when she gets back, I will tell you. Where will you be staying?"

"At the Hallwalk Inn, here is my number." Then he and his companion walked away.

"Ziva, call Gibbs. Tell him about those two."

**_At the hospital...same time..._**

****Gibbs sat in the hard plastic chair in the hospital waiting room. There was still no news on Jaclyn and he was getting impatient. Just as he was about to go find out for himself where his niece was, a doctor came through the doors.

"Miss Jaclyn's family?"

Gibbs stood up and walked over to where she was.

"I'm her uncle, how is she?"

"She's still unconscious, but stable. There was a deep laceration in her shoulder that needed stitches and also a cut above her eye and on the side of her head where there was much swelling. She has multiple broken ribs and many other small cuts and bruises. I believe she also has a concussion but we won't know for sure until she wakes up."

Gibbs breathed a small sigh of relief before addressing the doctor, "When can I see her?"

"She is being settled in her room as we speak, I'll send someone out to bring you there in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

Five minutes later Gibbs was sitting in the chair next to Jackie's bed when his phone rang.

"Gibbs," he said, stepping out into the hall. "They say she should be fine...no she hasn't...who was his younger companion?...hmmm, once she's awake, we'll call them back to NCIS and take her there...Good work, I have to go, I think she's waking up."

Jackie was beginning to stir as Gibbs walked back in.

"Wh-where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, Jackie."

"Who are you? Where i-is Alex?"

"Its me, Gibbs, your uncle."

"I don't have a-an uncle. Where's Alex! Or Mr. and Mrs. Romano! Wh-who are you?!"

"Jackie, what country do you think you are in?"

"I'm in Italy! Where else would I be?"

"Jackie, would you wait here a moment while I get the doctor?" At her nod, Gibbs left the room and found Dr. Grace. "Jackie is awake."

"Oh, I'll be right in. Anything seem off that we should be worried about?"

"Ya, she seems to have lost some of her memory. She believes it is four months ago when she was in Italy."

"This is a common occurrence, her memories should start returning to her shortly. I'll come an-" Grace was cut off by a piercing scream coming from Jaclyn's room. Gibbs immediately ran back to her room quickly followed by Grace. When he entered he went over to Jackie, who was crying hysterically.

"He's dead! He's dead! He-he's dead! No no no no no! It can't be! Why!"

"Jackie, calm down. Shhhhhh-shhhhh its alright. Calm down. Whats wrong? Who's dead?"

"Al-Alex is. I-I remember now. The fire and gunshots, I can see it! I'm holding him as he stops breathing, I could have saved him! Why didn't I!"

"Shhhh it's okay, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it."

"And Gwen and Robert and Amanda and Ryan and Agent Fries, they are all dead too. No! Its all my fault! Sh-she was waving and then...and then she was gone! Why..how...no!.Agent Morris!...Is Agent Morris? Is he okay? Jacob...guns and then he was bleeding, I tried to help...tell me he's not..."

"I'm afraid he...he didn't make it."

"Noooo! Did he...did he have any family?"

"Yes...Its not your fault, Jaclyn. Don't blame yourself."

"No, uncle, it is my fault. I got him killed. I have gotten **everyone** I talk to killed! When will it stop! Who will be next! What if you die! Or Ziva, Tony or McGee! Ducky, Jimmy, or Abby! How many people have to die before it stops!"

"Jackie! Calm down! Its not your fault! Its Jacob's! He's doing it, not you," Gibbs grabbed her good shoulder and held her as her heart rate lowered. "The doctor's going to check you over now to make sure you're okay."

"Okay," Jaclyn said tiredly, a few tears still falling from her eyes.

After the doctor examined Jaclyn, she walked to the hall where Gibbs was waiting.

"She still seems a bit confused, but that should go away soon. She does have a concussion, it doesn't seem very bad, but I'm going to keep her over night. I have her sedated now to calm her down after her memory returning so suddenly. She might experience a few flashbacks as more and more holes are filled. Once we release her, she's going to have to stay still and quiet if she wants her ribs to heal properly, and she can't use her shoulder for at least a week."

"Thank you, Doctor. I'll make sure she rests," Gibbs said, then called DiNozzo to let him know what's going on before going back into her room.

**_Hospital...3:00 am..._**

___"Let me go! I don't want to do this!" Jaclyn yelled to the young lady trying to demonstrate how to take out an opponent using one of her men. _

_"I can't do that. I need to teach you, you need to learn. This will save your life one day."_

_"You are an assassin! They take lives! Not save them!"_

_"You don't have to use your training for that. Did you want to save Sam and Briana from your father?"_

_"How- how did you know it was my father?"_

_"I've been watching you since you were born, my Jackie. I'm the silent shadow that you never notice."_

_"Then why didn't you stop him! Why did you let them die!"_

_"Because I can't, I made a promise, Jaclyn, that I wouldn't harm him in anyway. But I can train you to do it. But only if you will learn!"_

_"No."_

_"Do you want to destroy your father!"_

_"Yes! I want him gone!"_

_"Use that anger, channel it! Imagine that that man in front of you is your father."_

_With a blood curdling scream, Jackie attacked the man in front of her and knocked him out cold._

_"Very good, my little apprentice. Will you learn?"_

_"Yes, Masked Assassin. Teach me, I am ready." _

Jackie's eyes snapped open and she confusedly looked around her for a moment before realizing where she was. For a second she thought she was eight again and training with the Masked Assassin, the dream had seemed so real. Looking at the clock on the wall she saw it was 3 in the morning and she noticed her uncle asleep on a chair beside her. Turning onto her side, she slipped into another dream.

_"A good assassin needs to show no mercy. If you so much as hesitate for a second, it could be your downfall."_

_"But that seems a bit brutal. Why would you chose killing in cold blood as your lifestyle?"_

_"I know that you don't understand just yet, but I only kill those that deserve to be killed. People like rapist, murderers, corrupt politicians, and the like. People who need to be taken care of..permanently."_

_"Who are you to judge them? Who gave you that choice?"_

_"Jackie, did I ever tell you how I came to be an assassin?"_

_"No, but it must have been at a young age, you don't look that old when you take your mask off."_

_"I was about your age when I was attacked by this man. I was learning martial arts and was able to get away, but I was so angry at what he did, not only to me, but to many other young girls that I went after him and ended him. After that, I studied even more fighting styles and patrolled the streets at night, saving many people from kidnappings and rapes and death. I always wore a mask so no one would ever know who I was. The people loved me. I was their vigilante. As I grew older, I expanded my work and began taking jobs and eventually I became who I am today."_

_"Didn't your family know what you were doing?"_

_"The only family I had was my sister and she was very busy, it was easy to sneak out and by the time she did find out, I wasn't going to let her stop me."_

_"May I ask you something else?"_

_"You can ask, that doesn't mean I will answer."_

_"Everyone around here calls you Masked Assassin or Master. Does anyone know your real name?"_

_"Only two people know my identity, one dead and one alive. My sister, who died roughly eight years ago and then her husband."_

_"Will I ever know?"_

_Masked Assassin chuckled softly, "Maybe one day, little one. Now back to your lessons. Today we will be studying Chinese and Japanese. You need to have them mastered."_

_Jackie looked over and saw Alex coming towards her. "Hello," he said, sitting on the bench beside her, "how are you?"_

_"I'm fine, thank you. And yourself?"_

_"I'm good. You've been here, what, three year now?"_

_"It will be next week."_

_"It seems like it was just yesterday that I came home and you were sitting in our house."_

_"Hmmm yes, it does seem like time has flown. It's really beautiful here, I love Italy."_

_"I'm glad you do," Alex said, smiling at her, "but you never seem to get off our property! Come and let me show you around the city for an afternoon!"_

_"I don't know..."_

_"Come! It will be fun! You've been here for three years now and haven't seen Rome!"_

_"Okay," Jackie said, giving in._

_Two hours later, Jackie and Alex were sitting on a bench in the park. They had spent the past two hours touring some of Rome and were now resting._

_"Thank you for showing me around."_

_"It was my pleasure. I got to spend the afternoon with a beautiful girl this way. It was the most fun I have had in a long time."_

_"Oh, really? And who would this girl be?"_

_"She is about thirteen years old, has brown hair, strikingly blue eyes, and a gorgeous smile."_

_"She sounds familiar. Have I met her?"_

_"I think so. If not, I have to introduce you two. There is something I've been meaning to tell her for a long time now."_

_"And what would that be?"_

_"I want to tell her...that...I love her."_

_Jackie looked up at his smiling face in shock. "Wh-what...you love her?"_

_"Yes, I love you. I have for a long time and I have been dying to tell you. Jackie you are so amazing and beautiful and smart and deadly. I love everything about you."_

_"Alex...I don't know what to say," Jackie said in a disbelieving voice just as it stared raining._

_"Don't say anything yet. Think about it."_

_"I have," she said, smiling. Then she leaned up and kissed him._

Jackie smiled in her sleep as the happy memory played through her mind before it changed to a different one.

_It was her ninth birthday and she was spending it stalking her first "target." She was on her first mission for the Masked Assassin, and was told to take out an assigned member of Masked Assassin's team. She was on the second story ledge of a building and was waiting for her mark to walk under her. She saw him coming and unsheathed a dagger whose blade had been dulled so as to not kill anyone. Her mark was coming and she ever so silently jumped down and "ended" his life in a matter of seconds. As soon as her task was complete, the lights of the Masked Assassin's stage turned on and Jackie heard the applause of the spectators._

_"Very good, Jaclyn. Come with me to my office, I have something to tell you."_

_"Yes, Master," Jackie said, following her out. Once they arrived in her office, her assistant, Katherine, stood up from the desk she was sitting at. "Do you need something, Masked Assassin?" _

_"Would you give me a moment alone with Jaclyn?"_

_"Of coarse," Katherine said, taking her leave._

_"Take a seat, Jackie. You have been here for one year now and have learned far more quickly than I imagined you could. You would make a most excellent assassin, have you ever thought of going into this business? Hmmm no, I didn't think so, you have to good of a heart. Perhaps that is a good thing though. Now the reason I brought you in here was because I have something I would like to tell you," Masked Assassin turned to face her protege and reached up to take off her ever present mask revealing a young beautiful face. "My real name is Emerentiana Christalyn Carther. I am twenty-five years old. My sister is-was Alyx May, your..."_

"Jackie," Gibbs said, gently shaking Jaclyn's good shoulder.

"Ye-yes?"

"Come on, its time to go, the doctors have given you the all clear."

At that news Jaclyn sat right up and began getting ready to depart. Ten minutes later, they were in Gibbs car on their way to NCIS. "What time is it?" Jackie inquired, looking out her window at the pouring rain.

"0800," Gibbs said as his phone rang. "Hello...We are on our way right now. Are they there?...Have they said anything?...Okay, we'll be right there. I'm turning in right now."

**_Bullpen...0830..._**

****"Gibbs is on his way up," Ziva said, hanging up her phone.

"Is Jackie with him?" the younger Italian asked anxiously.

"Yes," Ziva cautiously replied as the elevator doors opened and a tired looking Gibbs and beaten up Jackie stepped out and walked over to the agents workspace. When Jackie caught sight of the Italians, she froze.

"Jackie!" the younger one said, "What happened? Are you oka-"

"Your dead," Jackie said in a ghost like voice that slowly got louder. "Your dead. Your dead! What are you?!"

"Jaclyn, please, listen," the older Italian said, stepping closer.

"Mr. Romano? Why are you here?"

"I-I have something to tell you. Alex isn't dead, he never was. I told you he was so you would leave. I was trying to protect my family! You must understand!"

"No! No no no no! He is dead! I know he is! You're lying!" Jackie screamed before running down the stairs and out the building. Alex raced after her and behind him everyone one else followed.

"Jackie!" he yelled into the pouring rain, frantically looking around for her. "Jackie! Please!"

"What! What do you want!"

"I need to talk to you Jackie! I am sorry for what my father did, it was wrong!"

"You are dead, Alex! I held your hand as you stopped breathing! As your heart stopped working! You bleed out in **_my_** arms! I was at your funeral! I saw them throw dirt over you coffin! I-I, " Jackie fell to her knees sobbing uncontrollably and Alex walked over to her as the others looked on in silence.

"Jackie, I am alive. My father told you I was dead. I had no idea he did so. When I found out you thought I was dead, I made him come here so I could find you. Please forgive me."

"Is it really you?"

"Yes, Jackie, it is. Now can we go inside? It's a little wet out here."

"I still can't believe it. I thought you were dead this entire time," Jackie said as they walked back to the others.

"Jaclyn! Are you okay?" Gibbs asked as they walked up.

"I think so. Let's get out of this rain."

"Jackie, I'm so sorry," Mr. Romano began, " I didn't-"

"Leave me alone."

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**A/N-** Please review! Thank you!


	9. Chapter 9: Saying Goodbye

**_A/N-_**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Probably my favorite yet! Don't forget to review! I love to hear from you! And it makes me write faster when I know people actually read!

**Disclaimer-** Do I really have to do this EVERY time! I don't own NCIS! Or the characters you recognize from the show!

Oh! I almost forgot to mention this! Two songs influenced parts of this chapter. "September" and "Over you" both by Daughtry. Look them up if you don't know them, they're really good!

* * *

**_NCIS Headquarters...0835..._**

Jackie, Gibbs, and the others were standing in the bullpen drying off.

"So he's the guy from Italy you fell in love with, huh?" Tony asked.

"Yes, he is. All this time I believed he was dead. I blamed myself for causing his parents suffering, but in reality, it was the other way around. How could he do something like that? If they had asked me to leave, I would have. He didn't have to fake his son's death!"

"Well," Gibbs said, "we are going to hear his story right now. Tony and Ziva get to work on sorting through the evidence. McGee, get down to Abby's lab and help her. Jackie, you're with me."

Gibbs and Jaclyn walked into Conference room where Alex and his dad sat.

"Mr. Romano, I don't believe we have been formally introduced. I am Special Agent Gibbs. I have heard about you from my niece and so far everything I have seen is going against what she told me."

"Your niece?" he asked, confused.

"He means me," Jackie said, sitting next to Gibbs.

"You are his niece? You never told us you had family, Jackie!" Alex exclaimed.

"She didn't find out until very recently, but that is not what we are here to discuss. I want to know why you lied about your son's death."

"Yes, _father, _why did you tell her I was dead?"

"I thought it was the right thing to do. I was trying to keep my family safe!"

"She was your family, dad! Jackie was!"

"No, Alexei, you are. She was only a favor for a friend, you are my son. And you were already in a coma because of her and I didn't know if you were going to live or not. So I told her you were already dead and I faked your burial. I convinced your mother it was the right thing to do. I knew she would leave after a while. It was the only way to keep you safe!" Here he turned to Jackie and said, "Please, I came here to beg of your forgiveness and I ask you to understand that what I did was for the best. Please, I beg you to hear my plea."

"I would've left if you had asked me to. Do you know what you put me through! I have told you how many people have **_died_** because of me and all you go and do is make me think that I got your only son and the person I **_loved_** killed! Do you know how bad I felt? How much I wished I could go back and change everything? How often I wished I was never born? No, you don't! And you never will. I can not forgive you for what you have done, Antonio Romano, nor do I understand why you would fake your sons death," Jackie replied then stood and made her way to the door.

"Jackie! Please!" Antonio said, standing up from where he was sitting.

"I think you should leave and go back to where you came from. I want nothing to do with you any longer. You should never have come," she said, walking out the door.

"Jackie, wait!" Alex called, "See what you did, father! How could you! I'm going after her."

"Alexander, wait-"

"No, father, I'm going after her and there is nothing you can say to change my mind. Why don't you take her advice and go back to Italy," Alex said following Jackie out the door.

"What have I done!"

"It seems to me, Mr. Antonio, that you have a lot to make up for."

"What should I do, Agent Gibbs?" Antonio pleaded.

"I don't know, but I would suggest you either follow their advice or find some way to make it up to them."

"I will leave Alexei's ticket here with you. Please give it to him when he returns."

**_Somewhere in D.C...0930..._**

Jackie ran into the house she had been staying in and closed the door behind her.

"Miss Philothea, is that you?"

"Yes, Carlita, it is!" Jackie called out, walking through the large foyer to the kitchen where the small Spanish women was working.

"You are finally home! A package arrived for you earlier, I put it in the study. I am preparing dinner if you want some-miss, you have been crying! What is wrong?"

"It is nothing, Carlita, I'm fine."

"I don't know what you do when you are away, but if I am always here if you need me," she said, pulling Jackie into a hug.

"Gratias, Carlita."

Jackie walked up the stairs and into the study where there was a small package sitting on her desk. She walked over and sat down, picking it up and looking at the sender. When she saw the initials M.A., she smiled. It had been almost six months since the last time Jackie had received a package from her only close friend. Hurriedly, she opened it and inside was a plain black leather box. Opening that she exposed one of the most beautiful gifts she had ever received. Gently taking it in her hands, she grabbed the note that was attached to it and began to read it.

_Dear Philothea,_

_I know you are going through horrible times right now concerning your father, so I won't even bother asking how you are. I have been keeping an eye on you and thought you could use a little something to make you smile. I hope you like it, I know it was your favorite out of my collection. My work is taking me to D.C. in a few days_ _I would like to see you again if you are able to visit with me. I'll contact you when I get there and see if you are busy or not. That is all for now. I send my love!_

_Sincerly,_

_M.A. :D_

_P. S.- Remember to always watch your back! 3_

Jackie smiled slightly to herself and put the small dagger into a plain black leather sheath she had in her top drawer and then hid it on her person. She then looked for a date on the package and saw that it was sent on March 20. Looking at her calendar she realized that it was now the 23, she should be in D.C. now. Jackie looked at her watch and saw that it was almost ten, the perfect time for a run in a park they both knew. If she was in D.C. then that would be where she would look for Jackie. Running downstairs, she saw it was still raining so she grabbed her jacket, called out to Carlita that she would be dining else where tonight, and ran out into the pouring rain and to the park.

Doing a check around her for any sign of anything suspicious, she started down one of the well-trodden paths, clearing her head as she ran. She let her hood fall off and laughed as the clean, cold rain splashed into her face leaving her feeling refreshed and way better than she had in a long time. She had only gone a short distance when her hurt ribs made themselves known again. She slowly stooped and bent over to catch her breath. Immediately she pulled back up as a sharp twinge of pain coursed through her torso and also her shoulder. Ashamed and mad at herself for being this way, she pushed on harder and faster than before, working through the pain. She had gotten soft in her time in Italy, she could deal with a few hurt ribs and a cut shoulder! After a few minutes, her body began to adapt to its conditions and she settled in a nice easy rhythm.

Five minutes later, another mysterious figure entered the park and looked around. After a few seconds, she spotted who she was looking for. She stood in the shadows and watched her old charge. She noticed a young Italian man approach Jackie and moved closer to see what they were saying...

Jackie began to slow down as soon as she sensed someone approaching her. Looking carefully over her shoulder, she saw that it was Alex and came to a complete stop though she remained with her back to him.

"How did you find me?"

"I do know you well enough to know that you would be the one person to go for a run in the rain in the condition your in. Or do you not remember all the time you spent with me?"

"Of course I remember it, how could I for get, it haunts my dreams almost every night," she said, her back still towards him.

"Jackie, listen, I didn't know that you thought I was dead, if I did I would have come and found you sooner. I'm-"

"You're what, Alex?" she cut in, spinning around to face him. "You're sorry? No, I don't need your apology, I'm sick and tired of apologies right now! You can say that you're sorry, that you didn't know, that it isn't your fault, but that doesn't change a thing! For two months I've been going around blaming myself for your death! Blaming myself for the pain and suffering I caused your parents! And after all this time I find out that you were alive! What can you say about that Alex!"

"Do you know what I went through these past two months! I was told that you left. Just left of your own accord. I wanted to call you when I was out of the hospital to tell you how I was."

"So why didn't you?" Jackie asked, hurt creeping into her voice once more as all of her pent up emotions rushed to the surface.

"My dad said that if you left, then that meant you were through with us, with me. That it was too painful and you couldn't deal with it any longer. Everything was just too much and you had to leave! He said it would be best to leave you alone! I didn't want to hurt you!"

"Since when did you ever do what your father told you to! Why start now! You and I both know that if you really wanted to, you would have found away to reach me, even against your father's orders. Let me ask you this, did it ever occur to you why I left? You said that you knew me so well, why would I have left. If you knew me, you would know that I loved you. And you should definitely know what the people I love mean to me! Why would I just desert you and not even see if you were going to be okay! Huh? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I left for a different reason? Or did you just go with what your father said because deep down, it's what you truly wanted to believe. That's it, isn't it? You wanted that to be true, that I was through with you and you could get on with life without me hindering you, that you wished so hard for what your father told you to be true, that you convinced yourself that it was."

"How could you say that, Jaclyn! How?! That is **_not_** true! I was devastated when I woke up and was told that you were gone. You had left Italy for good. And as soon as I found out what my dad had told you, I came straight here to set things straight!"

"Think about it, Alexei, really think about it. Secretly, you were glad I left. When you woke up, you were told that I left Italy, when I woke up, I was told that you were **_dead_**! I don't want your apologies and I don't want your pity and I especially don't want your lies! If you really want to help me, you would go back to NCIS, tell them I will be in soon, and then go back to Italy on the first flight back!"

"What happened to my little rose, my beautiful but deadly rose? What happened to all of the good times we had together?"

"What happened to you loving me forever?"

"Who said my love for you ever stopped? Jackie," Alex said, closing the distance between them and taking her hand, "I came out here to make things right between us, to fix my father's mistake, to ask for your forgiveness, because I love you. I always have and I always will. I have never stopped loving you." He reached his hand up and caressed her head by where the fresh stitches are. He thought about how beautiful she looked just now with rain running down her face, her hair sticking to her forehead, even the tears glistening in her eyes. He could see the hurt, anger, confusion in her eyes, yet at the same time he could see the love, protectiveness, and loyalty in them.

He bent down and kissed her. For a second, Jackie could forget everything, it was just the two of them like old times. She had no cares or worries, it was just her and Alex with the rain falling around them. But all too soon, Jackie pulled away. She knew what she had to do and it was better just to get it over with, he would understand, one day he would.

"Alex, we can't, I can't. Your father was right to send me away. I never should have gotten close to you and I regret it with my whole heart because I knew when I first said 'I love you' that you would be taken away from me, you would get hurt. I should've left then, I should've never let my bastard of a father get to you. I will **_not_**make that mistake again. You should never have come here Alex. Its not safe for you to be around me, its not safe for anyone and while I still have breath in my body I will not let anyone else get hurt. I saw a little girl and her family blown up because of me. Two good agents are now dead because of me. Four people I have considered like parents to me are dead and so is a close friend of mine because they knew me and I cared for them. My best friend and her entire family were killed because of me! I was turned into a killer by an assassin but I realize that I was killing way before that. People all around me have been dying my whole life and I thought I had lost you once. I can't go through that again."

"Jacks, what are you saying?"

"Leave, Alex, leave and never come back. You never should have come back. I never thought that any of this would have happened when I was in Italy, but I should have, I should have left before I got too attached. I never thought I would have had to hold you in my arms as you took your last breath. My heart was shattered, but I have finally put it back together and moved on. I-I'm over you, Alex," Jackie said, lying but knowing it was her only chance to save him. Perhaps one day she will have the chance to explain why she said what she did, but for now she had to do this. "Its done, we're done. I don't love you anymore, Alex. There is nothing between us anymore and it will be best for all of us if you finally realize that. Go back to Italy, move on with your life. Goodbye, Alexander."

Alex stood there shocked by what he had just heard. "Jackie...goodbye...I'll tell your uncle that you're okay."

She almost lost it, almost broke down and told him it was all a lie, almost chased after him and asked him to hold her, to tell her everything would be alright, but she didn't, she couldn't. It was the only way to keep him safe from her father and from herself.

"I love you," she whispered to his retreating back. Standing there, Jackie thought back to a different time in the park with Alex, only this one had been happy...

_Flashback_

_"Jackie! Jackie! Where are you, Jackie!" Jackie watched as Alex called out her name over and over in a vain attempt to get her to answer. But there was no way she was going to lose a simple game of hide-and-seek, she was too great at hiding for that! "Come on, Jacks! Come out, come out wherever you are! I'll even call you Jackie Chan if you do! You know, you kind of remind me of Jackie Chan, all silent and ninja like!"_

_"Say you give up!" Jackie called from her hiding spot._

_Aha, Alex thought and ran to where the voice came from. "I found yo-where are you?"_

_"Did little Alexei forget that I know how to throw my voice?" came Jackie's voice again, this time on the other side of the park._

_"Fine, I give up! You win...again!"_

_"Yes! What is that now, five for me and zero for you?" Jacks asked as she suddenly appeared at his side._

_"What the-how do you do that! Where were you!"_

_"That is for me to know and you to probably never find out."_

_"Now that, my dear lovely rose, is very unfair," Alex said, grabbing Jackie's hand and pulling her towards him._

_"Oh, I don't know, it seems completely fair to me," she whispered, putting her arms around his neck. He wrapped his hands around her waist just as the first drops of rain fell from the sky. "Its raining, beautiful rose."_

_"Is a little rain going to hurt you?" Jackie asked as the skies opened up and a torrential downpour began._

_"A little!" Alex exclaimed laughingly, "I don't want to leave just yet, though. We never find time to be alone anymore."_

_"I know. Its sad. But we're alone now."_

_"You know, in a month is our two year anniversary. It also happens to be your birthday. I was thinking that we would spend the day with family and friends, but in the evening, you and I will enjoy watching the sunset by there picture window. Just the two of us, my arm around you protectively, you snuggled up into my side, and a glorious sight before us, what say you?"_

_"I say," Jackie began, then reached up and kissed him. _

_"I love you, my little rose, and I will never stop loving you. Ever."_

_End Flashback_

Jackie paused for a few seconds. If she had known what was going to happen, she never would have agreed to it, but at the time she was completely oblivious. She composed herself as best she could before making her way over to where the mysterious stranger was still watching the events unfold.

"You saw all of that, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, Jackie. Its me, remember?"

"Ya, I remember. Messed up situation, huh?"

"You can say that again. How about we go someplace warm and dry to carry on this conversation. What do you say?"

"I say, yes!"

"Great. I saw this cute little diner on my way over here. Lets go."

**_NCIS Headquarters...1030..._**

Gibbs walked into the bullpen and saw McGee working at his desk.

"Where's Tony and Ziva?"

"Um..they went to follow a lead. Tony found an address amidst the debris from the house. It may have fallen out of one of the men's pockets. They're checking it out."

"Any news on Jaclyn?"

"None so far, boss."

"Call me when Alex returns."

"Okay boss," McGee called out to his retreating back. A few seconds later his phone rang. "Agent McGee."

_"Its me, McGoo."_

_"_What, Tony?"

_"Ziva and I found that house. The place is deserted except for a few dead guys. I'm sending you their pictures, see if you can I. D. them."_

"Sure thing, Tony. I'll also call Ducky and send another team to help process the scene."

_"Good, tell them to hurry."_

McGee put the phone back down on the receiver and began running facial recognition on the dead guys before calling Gibbs, Ducky, and Agent Willison's team. Five minutes later, Gibbs walked back into the bullpen.

"Get anything on our dead guys?"

"Not yet, boss. I'm still working on it."

"Put up their pictures."

"Yes, boss."

The first man was middle-aged, white, and very muscular with an angry scar on the side of his face. The second guy was black and thin with tattoos covering his head, and the third was a well-dressed, young male.

"I sent Agent Willison's team to help Tony and Ziva and Ducky sent Palmer to pick up the bodies."

"I know that man," came a voice from behind them. Gibbs and McGee turned around to see Alex standing there.

"How do you know him? Where's Jackie?"

"Jackie is okay, she wants to be alone," Alex said, his expression guarded, "and I've seen him before in Italy, the black man. I recognize his tattoos. He was around once or twice when Jacks and I used to hang out. I have a photo with him in it."

"Could we see this picture?"

"Yes, of course, I'll call my mother and ask her to fax it over. May I use the phone?"

"Sure."

"Where is my father, Agent Gibbs?"

"He left for Italy, his flight took off ten minutes ago."

"When is the next available flight?"

"Ummm..not until tomorrow afternoon," McGee piped up from his computer.

"Thank you," Alex said and left to call his mother.

**_A small diner...1030..._**

"How have you been, Em?"

"Pretty good. Business has been kind of slow lately."

"Well maybe people are finally realizing that lives aren't meant to be taken."

"I see your opinions are the same as before. But no matter, that's not why I'm here, so talk. What was that about?"

So Jackie told her all that had happened from the time she met Alex in Italy, although the Masked Assassin probably knew most of it anyways. "I had to tell him goodbye. He wouldn't have understood any other way."

"I know. From where you're coming from, you did the right thing. Listen, I heard about Gwen, Amanda, and Robert this morning. I'm sorry. I wish I could take care of Jacob so he will stop hurting people!"

"You made a promise, and I won't let you break that promise. Don't worry about him, he won't be hurting any one else if I have anything to say about it," Jackie said with a fierce determination burning in her eyes.

"Jackie, you are in no shape to be going off and confronting your father! What do you plan on doing?!"

"I'm in this condition _because_ of my father! I'm sick of it and I'm sick of him. I'm going to do something I should have a long time ago. I won't be a coward any longer."

"Jacks, don't! You're going to get yourself hurt! Or even worse, killed!"

"Better me then someone else. I can't hide from him any longer, Em. I have to do this," she said. "I'm glad to have the chance to see you again. Thank you for all who have done for me. I know that at first I didn't appreciate it, I hated it, but you taught me most of what I know and I'll never forget how much you have helped me. Goodbye."

With that, Jackie walked out the door and the Masked Assassin saw her for what was most likely the last time alive. She had to stop this.

**_NCIS Headquarters...1100..._**

Gibbs walked into the bullpen with a fresh cup of coffee. Tony and Ziva had returned and now all three agents were at their desks.

"What do you got?"

McGee stood first and pulled up two images. The first was of the dead black man and the second was Jackie and Alex at the park.

"This is the photo Alex's mother sent over. In the background is our dead man. Their are three more photos with him in the back."

"Do we have an I.-" Gibbs began before he was interrupted by his name being asked for.

"Special Agent Gibbs?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"I'm here to tell you about Jackie. You have to help her."

"What's wrong with Jackie?"

"She's gone to find and kill her father."

"How do you know that? Who are you?"

"I'm Emerentiana Christalyn Carther. My sister is-was Jackie's biological mother. I guess that makes me her aunt. But you need to help her!"

* * *

**_A/N-_**Ahhhhhh! So The Masked Assassin is Jackie's aunt! Jackie is going after her father! Dun dun dun! Please review and tell me your thoughts or ideas! Oh, do you guys think Alex and Jackie should end up together again?


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